Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Buys New Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $346,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,979,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,019,037,000 after acquiring an additional 403,248 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,274,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,438,897,000 after acquiring an additional 6,840,735 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,456,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,020,366,000 after buying an additional 89,391 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P lifted its position in Nasdaq by 1.2% in the first quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,693,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $659,487,000 after buying an additional 101,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 484,750 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $86.02 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $88.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.85. The stock has a market cap of $49.12 billion, a PE ratio of 30.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.84 and a 1 year high of $97.63.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 19.90% and a return on equity of 16.28%. Nasdaq’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is 38.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target (up from $99.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.40, for a total transaction of $179,767.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 84,974 shares in the company, valued at $7,256,779.60. This trade represents a 2.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.