USA Financial Formulas Makes New $856,000 Investment in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 11,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $856,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 3.6% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 13,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Nasdaq by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 9,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in Nasdaq by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems lifted its position in Nasdaq by 0.5% in the third quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 28,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $76.98 on Thursday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.90 and a 1 year high of $83.77. The firm has a market cap of $44.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.10, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50-day moving average of $79.29 and a 200 day moving average of $73.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 57.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,075 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.75, for a total value of $950,906.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,072,268.75. The trade was a 10.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total transaction of $1,027,515.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 142,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,757,955.60. The trade was a 8.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 49,459 shares of company stock valued at $3,811,808. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NDAQ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. William Blair initiated coverage on Nasdaq in a report on Monday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.73.

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.