Verity & Verity LLC Increases Stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Verity & Verity LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 9.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 692 shares during the quarter. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 94.8% in the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 164.4% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nasdaq Stock Up 1.3 %

Nasdaq stock opened at $79.78 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.59. The company has a market capitalization of $45.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.77, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. Nasdaq, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.36 and a fifty-two week high of $80.77.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 57.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays raised their price target on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.87.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.71, for a total transaction of $454,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 215,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,320,274.73. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.92, for a total value of $935,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 114,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,928,073.60. The trade was a 9.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 37,384 shares of company stock worth $2,860,902. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.