Vista Investment Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 49,872 Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Vista Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 49,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,844,000. Nasdaq accounts for about 1.3% of Vista Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 712.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $929,000 after acquiring an additional 8,383 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 25,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,456,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 8,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $831,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 35.9% in the 4th quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 8,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $869,000 after purchasing an additional 2,365 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Nasdaq by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 126,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,286,000 after buying an additional 5,955 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price target (up from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price objective on Nasdaq and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.71.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $85.15 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $86.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.84. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.84 and a 12 month high of $101.79. The firm has a market cap of $48.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is 34.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Nasdaq news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.91, for a total value of $29,073,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,924,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,542,349.73. This represents a 13.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 125,674 shares in the company, valued at $12,568,656.74. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 697,340 shares of company stock worth $66,803,072. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.