Ethic Inc. Has $6.58 Million Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 65.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,118 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 33,729 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $6,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Founders Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 106.6% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other 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 value of $47,179.17. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,450,783.80. The trade was a 1.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 corporate insiders.

Nasdaq Stock Up 1.0%

Nasdaq stock traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $81.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,616,147 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,851,295. The company has a market cap of $46.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Nasdaq, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.28 and a fifty-two week high of $84.15. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.79.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. Nasdaq's quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. This is a positive change from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NDAQ. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Nasdaq from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Nasdaq from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $74.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $86.50.

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.