Candriam S.C.A. Sells 6,963 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Candriam S.C.A. lowered its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 9.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 64,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,963 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $5,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $104.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $106.92.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other news, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total transaction of $1,408,258.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 215,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,530,126. This represents a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ab Investor acquired 56,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $85.98 per share, for a total transaction of $4,882,116.36. Following the transaction, the insider owned 58,439,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,024,603,103.84. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,551 shares of company stock worth $2,225,990. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $89.21 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.87, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $87.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $76.55 and a 1-year high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. Nasdaq had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. 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 (DPR) is currently 37.35%.

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.