Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Has $62.59 Million Stock Position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 809,616 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,543 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned about 0.14% of Nasdaq worth $62,591,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,292 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 9,818 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,899 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 4,103 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on NDAQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Nasdaq from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on Nasdaq from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $85.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of the company'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 value of $47,179.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,980 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,450,783.80. This represents a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. This trade represents a 20.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,116 shares of company stock valued at $1,434,818. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock traded up $0.31 on Thursday, hitting $76.52. 1,001,448 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,791,767. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.28 and a 12 month 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $74.69 and a 200 day moving average of $77.49. The stock has a market cap of $43.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.22 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. This is a positive change from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.