Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Position Increased by Smartleaf Asset Management LLC

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 192 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 163.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,833,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,835,235,000 after purchasing an additional 24,084,154 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,951,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,310,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811,616 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,761,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $783,181,000 after purchasing an additional 932,665 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,596,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $627,596,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096,090 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 13,532.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $292,040,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970,658 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on NDAQ. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group increased their price target on Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,532,778.56. This trade represents a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Nasdaq Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $76.17 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $43.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.99. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $57.96 and a one year high of $84.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $79.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. Analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.00%.

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.