Shell Asset Management Co. Sells 16,456 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Shell Asset Management Co. decreased its holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 41.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,456 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $1,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 89.3% in the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 74.9% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 22.0% during the first quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $64.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Edward Jones started coverage on Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Nasdaq from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.42.

Nasdaq Trading Down 1.1 %

NDAQ traded down $0.77 on Friday, hitting $66.49. The company had a trading volume of 873,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,803,018. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $60.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.69. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.88 and a 1 year high of $67.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $38.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.15, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.98% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 50.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,036 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.89, for a total value of $181,826.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,636 shares in the company, valued at $3,511,710.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Nasdaq 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.