GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Buys 32,891 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 27,409.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,011 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 32,891 shares during the quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $1,919,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 214.0% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,281,617 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $305,224,000 after acquiring an additional 4,280,846 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $235,218,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the first quarter valued at approximately $68,961,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Nasdaq by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,153,694 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $254,829,000 after purchasing an additional 775,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LGT Capital Partners LTD. increased its stake in Nasdaq by 136.5% in the fourth quarter. LGT Capital Partners LTD. now owns 1,264,990 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $73,547,000 after purchasing an additional 730,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on NDAQ. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Nasdaq from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $67.09.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total transaction of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 58,341,545 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,383,809,610. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total transaction of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 58,341,545 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,383,809,610. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total value of $465,534.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,672 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,879,785.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NDAQ traded down $1.54 during trading on Friday, hitting $61.52. The stock had a trading volume of 4,148,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,148,130. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.16, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.93. The company's 50-day moving average price is $59.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.64. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.88 and a twelve month high of $64.25.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.08 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 17.48% and a return on equity of 19.28%. Nasdaq's revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Nasdaq's payout ratio is 41.71%.

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.