Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Acquires 206,564 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 1,765.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 218,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 206,564 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $19,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Front Row Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the second quarter worth $27,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the third quarter worth $27,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the third quarter valued at $29,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 target price on Nasdaq and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq news, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the business’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 value of $450,045.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 125,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,568,656.74. The trade was a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 92,840 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,079,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $187,305,415.84. This trade represents a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 $85.44 on Thursday. 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 $48.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.53. 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 Dividend Announcement

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.