Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. by 25%, now holding 64,303 shares valued at approximately $4.88 million after selling 21,405 shares.
• Various institutional investors have increased their positions in Nasdaq; notable increases include CW Advisors LLC with an 183.9% growth and Norinchukin Bank increasing its stake by 15.4%.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $97.06 for Nasdaq, with several firms raising their target prices, indicating an overall "Moderate Buy" rating according to recent reports.

Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 25.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,303 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 21,405 shares during the period. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC's holdings in Nasdaq were worth $4,878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norinchukin Bank The raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 15.4% in the 1st quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 21,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 2,879 shares during the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 183.9% during the 1st quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 21,191 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,608,000 after purchasing an additional 13,727 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 594,149 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $45,073,000 after purchasing an additional 5,114 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 63,511 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,818,000 after buying an additional 4,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 25,399 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,903,000 after buying an additional 1,571 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Nasdaq from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Nasdaq from $95.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $101.00 target price (up previously from $96.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, July 25th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.06.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $93.96 on Friday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.84 and a 52 week high of $97.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $91.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.71. The firm has a market cap of $53.91 billion, a PE ratio of 36.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.00.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 18.59%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 11,508 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.87, for a total transaction of $1,022,715.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 111,035 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,867,680.45. This trade represents a 9.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 8,691 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.45, for a total value of $812,173.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $829,742.55. This represents a 49.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,409 shares of company stock valued at $2,887,839 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Nasdaq Company Profile

Nasdaq, Inc operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries worldwide. It operates in three segments: Capital Access Platforms, Financial Technology, and Market Services. The Capital Access Platforms segment sells and distributes historical and real-time market data; and develops and licenses Nasdaq-branded indices and financial products.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.