Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Stock: Insider Bradley Peterson Sells 3,987 Shares

Key Points

• Nasdaq EVP Bradley Peterson sold 3,987 shares at an average price of $104.75, generating $417,638.25 and reducing his direct holdings by 3.37% to 114,306 shares.
• Nasdaq reported quarterly EPS of $1.04, beating estimates by $0.02, while revenue reached $2.39 billion and increased 12.6% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, equivalent to $1.24 annually and a 1.2% yield; analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a $113.53 price target.

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) EVP Bradley Peterson sold 3,987 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.75, for a total transaction of $417,638.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 114,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,973,553.50. This represents a 3.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NDAQ traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $105.60. 4,865,291 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,785,623. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.55 and a 1 year high of $107.93. The company has a market cap of $58.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $95.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.61.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.47 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 22.81%. The company's revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio is 33.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NDAQ. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $135.00 to $132.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $109.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $113.53.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Fiduciary Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Nasdaq during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Eastern Bank raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 168.0% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 268 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Center for Financial Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Nasdaq Company Profile

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology and market infrastructure company best known for operating the Nasdaq Stock Market, one of the world's largest electronic stock exchanges. The company provides listing services for public companies and operates trading venues for equities, options and other financial products. Its exchange business serves companies, investors and market participants in the United States, as well as through Nasdaq's Nordic and Baltic market operations.

Beyond its exchange activities, Nasdaq provides market data, analytics, indexes and technology used by exchanges, brokers, banks, asset managers and other financial institutions.

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