R Squared Ltd Has $1.80 Million Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

R Squared Ltd raised its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 258.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,660 shares during the period. Nasdaq comprises about 0.8% of R Squared Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. R Squared Ltd’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $1,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NDAQ. Front Row Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NDAQ stock opened at $88.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.36 billion, a PE ratio of 28.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50-day moving average is $92.95 and its 200-day moving average is $91.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.84 and a 1 year high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 16.90% and a net margin of 21.77%.The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on NDAQ. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $103.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.01, for a total transaction of $450,045.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 125,674 shares in the company, valued at $12,568,656.74. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total transaction of $28,917,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,924,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $185,541,400.17. The trade was a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 604,500 shares of company stock worth $58,440,045. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Nasdaq Profile

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology company that operates one of the world’s leading electronic securities exchanges and provides a broad array of products and services to capital markets participants. Its core activities include operating the Nasdaq Stock Market and other trading venues, developing and supplying market technology and matching engines to exchanges and trading firms, licensing market data and indices, and offering clearing, trade execution and post-trade solutions. The company also provides market surveillance, risk management and regulatory technology used by exchanges and regulators.

Founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) as the first electronic stock market, Nasdaq has evolved into a diversified marketplace and technology provider.