Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 666.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 365,047 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 317,428 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. owned 0.06% of Nasdaq worth $21,224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the third quarter worth $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the third quarter worth $32,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 74.9% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 815 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 158.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 902 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NDAQ. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Nasdaq from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $73.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Nasdaq from $75.00 to $74.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley raised Nasdaq from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.92.

Nasdaq Trading Up 0.3 %

NDAQ stock traded up $0.19 during trading on Thursday, reaching $60.07. 3,401,674 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,191,167. The business's 50 day moving average price is $60.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.72. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.88 and a 52-week high of $64.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.63 billion, a PE ratio of 31.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.94.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.02). Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 15.98%. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. Nasdaq's quarterly revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This is a boost from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.32%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NDAQ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.