Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Shares Bought by Entropy Technologies LP

Entropy Technologies LP lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 487.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 81,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 67,824 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $6,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,855,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $277,329,000 after purchasing an additional 45,783 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 61,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,933,000 after purchasing an additional 13,160 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,245,000. Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,872,000. Finally, MKP Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $33,996,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Nasdaq News

Here are the key news stories impacting Nasdaq this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Nasdaq delivered a solid Q2 beat on both earnings and revenue, with strong growth in index and FinTech driving better-than-expected results and record Market Services performance. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, which may appeal to income-focused investors and signals continued shareholder returns. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted its price target to $102, indicating improved valuation expectations even though the rating remained market perform. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Nasdaq’s July short-interest report showed 0 shares short and a 0.0-day days-to-cover figure, which appears more like a data anomaly than a meaningful trading signal. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also ended its Miami case and sold its fund secondaries business, a portfolio move that may be viewed as strategic housekeeping rather than a major earnings driver. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on NDAQ shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price objective on Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $113.00 target price (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $109.73.

Nasdaq Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $92.09 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $87.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.55 and a 12-month high of $101.79. The firm has a market cap of $52.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.99.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 22.60% and a return on equity of 18.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other news, major shareholder Ab Investor bought 56,782 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $85.98 per share, for a total transaction of $4,882,116.36. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 58,439,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,024,603,103.84. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total value of $700,222.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 141,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,808,798.70. The trade was a 5.18% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Nasdaq

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.