Wintrust Investments LLC Sells 257 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Wintrust Investments LLC decreased its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 39.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 257 shares during the quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $30,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 9,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $759,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on NDAQ shares. William Blair started coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,778.56. This trade represents a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $73.26 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.16, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.25. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.96 and a 12 month high of $84.15.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted 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%. Analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio 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.