Bessemer Group Inc. Purchases 12,726 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,641,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,726 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $224,198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 21,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,868,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its position in Nasdaq by 29.3% in the first quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 59,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,065,000 after buying an additional 13,505 shares during the last quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Nasdaq by 6.8% in the first quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $875,000 after buying an additional 654 shares during the last quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC increased its position in Nasdaq by 39.4% during the first quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 19,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,691,000 after acquiring an additional 5,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 3.0% in the first quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 85,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,221,000 after acquiring an additional 2,478 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In related news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total transaction of $700,222.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 141,035 shares in the company, valued at $12,808,798.70. The trade was a 5.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total transaction of $1,408,258.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 215,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,530,126. This trade represents a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 24,551 shares of company stock valued at $2,225,990 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NDAQ shares. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $104.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $113.00 target price (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Nasdaq from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price target on Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $107.42.

Nasdaq Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $94.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The business’s 50 day moving average is $87.27 and its 200 day moving average is $88.73. The stock has a market cap of $53.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.99. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.55 and a 52-week high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The business’s revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.35%.

Nasdaq Company 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.