Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) CEO Adena Friedman Sells 113,611 Shares

Key Points

• Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman sold 113,611 shares on April 1 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan at an average $85.44 for about $9.71M, cutting her stake by 5.46% to 1,965,751 shares (~$168M).
• In its latest quarter Nasdaq reported EPS of $0.96 versus $0.92 expected and revenue of $2.12B (up 13.4% year-over-year), materially topping revenue estimates.
• The company paid a $0.27 quarterly dividend (1.2% yield, $1.08 annualized) and analysts' consensus rating is a Buy with an average price target of $103.71.

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) CEO Adena Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total transaction of $9,706,923.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,965,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $167,953,765.44. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ traded up $1.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $86.65. 2,511,163 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,389,008. Nasdaq, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.84 and a fifty-two week high of $101.79. The firm has a market cap of $49.26 billion, a PE ratio of 28.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 16.90% and a net margin of 21.77%.The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Nasdaq's payout ratio is 34.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on NDAQ shares. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Argus raised shares of Nasdaq to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $106.00 in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $103.71.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Front Row Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Nasdaq by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Nasdaq Company Profile

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology company that operates one of the world's leading electronic securities exchanges and provides a broad array of products and services to capital markets participants. Its core activities include operating the Nasdaq Stock Market and other trading venues, developing and supplying market technology and matching engines to exchanges and trading firms, licensing market data and indices, and offering clearing, trade execution and post-trade solutions. The company also provides market surveillance, risk management and regulatory technology used by exchanges and regulators.

Founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) as the first electronic stock market, Nasdaq has evolved into a diversified marketplace and technology provider.

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