Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Hits New 12-Month High After Dividend Announcement

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $81.08 and last traded at $80.61, with a volume of 85250 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.16.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 57.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.87.

Nasdaq Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $74.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.82.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.75, for a total transaction of $950,906.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,505 shares in the company, valued at $8,072,268.75. This trade represents a 10.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.71, for a total transaction of $454,260.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 215,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,320,274.73. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,459 shares of company stock worth $3,811,808 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the third quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 344.6% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 127,693 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,323,000 after acquiring an additional 98,973 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 39.0% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 207,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,137,000 after acquiring an additional 58,213 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $550,000 after acquiring an additional 1,090 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,761,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $783,181,000 after acquiring an additional 932,665 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

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.