Eventide Asset Management LLC Buys 129,741 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Eventide Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 23.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 674,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 129,741 shares during the period. Nasdaq comprises approximately 1.0% of Eventide Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Eventide Asset Management LLC owned 0.12% of Nasdaq worth $59,696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Front Row Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Nasdaq by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Argus upgraded Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report 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 given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $103.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 92,840 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.08, for a total transaction of $8,363,027.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,079,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $187,305,415.84. This represents a 4.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owned 125,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,568,656.74. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 697,340 shares of company stock valued at $66,803,072. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $85.53 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.71. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.84 and a 12 month high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 16.90% and a net margin of 21.77%.The business’s revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.95%.

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.