B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Invests $287,000 in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $287,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Thoma Bravo L.P. bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,166,454,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,065,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,620,131,000 after buying an additional 745,965 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 214.0% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,281,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $305,224,000 after buying an additional 4,280,846 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,787,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $232,564,000 after buying an additional 681,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $239,347,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.3 %

NDAQ opened at $59.76 on Thursday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.88 and a fifty-two week high of $64.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $34.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.30 and a 200-day moving average of $58.91.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.02). Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 15.98%. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total value of $465,534.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,672 shares in the company, valued at $3,879,785.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised Nasdaq from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $80.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays cut their price objective on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Nasdaq from $75.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Nasdaq from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $76.00 to $64.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.00.

Nasdaq Company Profile

Nasdaq, Inc operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries worldwide. It operates in three segments: Capital Access Platforms, Financial Technology, and Market Services. The Capital Access Platforms segment sells and distributes historical and real-time market data; and develops and licenses Nasdaq-branded indices and financial products.