Voloridge Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 69.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 239,125 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 553,185 shares during the quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC's holdings in Nasdaq were worth $18,487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 48.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,524,795 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $111,325,000 after purchasing an additional 500,418 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Nasdaq by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,056 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $546,000 after buying an additional 783 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 55.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 958 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 13,475 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,042,000 after acquiring an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 131,146 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,139,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Nasdaq from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $74.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group reiterated a "cautious" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total transaction of $47,179.17. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,980 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,450,783.80. The trade was a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total value of $1,102,179.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. This trade represents a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ traded up $1.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $83.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,893,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,272,125. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.28 and a 52 week high of $84.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.67 billion, a PE ratio of 43.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $75.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.17.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This is a positive change from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.09%.

About Nasdaq

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.