Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Sets New 52-Week High After Dividend Announcement

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $80.51 and last traded at $80.51, with a volume of 1928 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $79.87.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 57.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NDAQ has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Argus lifted their price target on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James upgraded Nasdaq from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.87.

Nasdaq Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $74.15 and a 200 day moving average of $67.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $44.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.95.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total transaction of $1,027,515.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 142,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,757,955.60. This trade represents a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.92, for a total value of $935,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 114,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,928,073.60. This represents a 9.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,384 shares of company stock valued at $2,860,902 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 94.8% in the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the second quarter worth $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the third quarter worth $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 164.4% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

About Nasdaq

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.