Metis Global Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Metis Global Partners LLC decreased its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,681 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $1,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NDAQ. FourThought Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Nasdaq by 815.6% in the fourth quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 43,291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,517,000 after acquiring an additional 38,563 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 666.6% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 365,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,224,000 after purchasing an additional 317,428 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at about $448,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 625,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,381,000 after buying an additional 27,145 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Nasdaq by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 31,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,835,000 after buying an additional 6,575 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Nasdaq from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $76.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Edward Jones started coverage on Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Nasdaq from $75.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total value of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,341,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,383,809,610. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Nasdaq news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total transaction of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 58,341,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,383,809,610. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.89, for a total transaction of $181,826.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 58,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,511,710.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,010,436 shares of company stock worth $1,798,647,360. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NDAQ stock opened at $59.91 on Thursday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.88 and a 1 year high of $64.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business’s 50-day moving average is $60.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.07.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.02). Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.98% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 50.53%.

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.