Diversify Advisory Services LLC Sells 8,638 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Diversify Advisory Services LLC cut its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,638 shares during the quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $1,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 33.5% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,274,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,438,897,000 after acquiring an additional 6,840,735 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the second quarter valued at approximately $406,823,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Nasdaq by 6.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,648,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,275,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,848,406 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 261.7% during the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 2,690,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $240,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,946,479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 4,365.0% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,641,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $146,749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,604,368 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NDAQ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Argus upgraded Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.80.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NDAQ opened at $88.05 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.84 and a 52 week high of $101.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.50, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $91.56 and a 200-day moving average of $90.94.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. Nasdaq’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

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