Banco Santander S.A. Lowers Stock Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Banco Santander S.A. lowered its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 41.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 110,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 77,793 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $8,535,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 163.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,833,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,835,235,000 after buying an additional 24,084,154 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 13,532.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,970,658 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Nasdaq by 11.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,951,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,310,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811,616 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth $110,867,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth about $105,481,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Down 2.0 %

NDAQ opened at $74.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.96 and a 12 month high of $84.15. The company has a market cap of $42.94 billion, a PE ratio of 38.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50 day moving average of $79.78 and a 200 day moving average of $77.22.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,532,778.56. This trade represents a 5.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NDAQ shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. William Blair began coverage on Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.88.

About Nasdaq

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.