Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Short Interest Update

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 6,600,984 shares, a drop of 17.0% from the February 12th total of 7,948,974 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,567,497 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 4,567,497 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Nasdaq Stock Up 0.7%

NASDAQ NDAQ traded up $0.62 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $86.47. 2,239,170 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,333,108. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.56. Nasdaq has a 12 month low of $64.84 and a 12 month high of $101.79. 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 company has a market capitalization of $49.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.03.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.95%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 92,840 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.08, for a total value of $8,363,027.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,079,323 shares in the company, valued at $187,305,415.84. This trade represents a 4.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were 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 $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 697,340 shares of company stock worth $66,803,072 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth approximately $530,100,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,648,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,275,902,000 after acquiring an additional 3,848,406 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 62.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,266,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $900,061,000 after purchasing an additional 3,567,843 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 82.0% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 6,073,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $589,897,000 after acquiring an additional 2,736,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harris Associates L P raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 46.0% during the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,621,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $837,425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,716,280 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NDAQ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 9th. TD Cowen upgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $105.00 to $106.00 in a report on Thursday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $108.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.80.

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.