Freestone Grove Partners LP Makes New $13.37 Million Investment in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 172,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,365,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Founders Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 106.6% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Nasdaq from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $74.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 18th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Nasdaq from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. The trade was a 20.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total transaction of $47,179.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,450,783.80. This represents a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,116 shares of company stock valued at $1,434,818 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $76.14 on Friday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $58.28 and a one year high of $84.15. The company has a market cap of $43.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.66, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $74.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.52.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.09%.

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.