Ballentine Partners LLC Buys 4,441 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 34.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,441 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $1,542,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,979,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,019,037,000 after acquiring an additional 403,248 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,433,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,550,115,000 after acquiring an additional 993,553 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,693,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $659,487,000 after acquiring an additional 101,983 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,785,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $438,854,000 after acquiring an additional 484,750 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,494,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $416,795,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592,057 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on NDAQ shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $101.00 target price (up from $96.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $95.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.06.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $87.15 on Thursday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $64.84 and a 12-month high of $97.63. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $50.01 billion, a PE ratio of 33.52, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.07. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 18.59%.The business had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 11,508 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.87, for a total value of $1,022,715.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 111,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,867,680.45. This represents a 9.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 8,691 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.45, for a total value of $812,173.95. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $829,742.55. The trade was a 49.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,409 shares of company stock valued at $2,223,599. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.