Gotham Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 18.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 93,799 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,540 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC's holdings in Nasdaq were worth $7,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $424,285,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 37.9% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,005,047 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $464,676,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,201 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $110,867,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $105,481,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,379,012 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $802,401,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,672 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NDAQ. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Nasdaq from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $74.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $81.90. 5,144,712 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,905,300. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.28 and a 1 year high of $84.15. The company has a market capitalization of $47.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.66, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.00. The company's 50-day moving average is $74.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.88.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.09%.

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.