Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Purchases 317,428 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 666.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 365,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 317,428 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $21,224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth approximately $448,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 625,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,381,000 after buying an additional 27,145 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 31,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,835,000 after buying an additional 6,575 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 8,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 1,025 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 349,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,325,000 after acquiring an additional 65,507 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total transaction of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 58,341,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,383,809,610. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total transaction of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 58,341,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,383,809,610. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total value of $465,534.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,879,785.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NDAQ. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Nasdaq from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays decreased their target price on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Nasdaq from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $80.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Nasdaq from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.92.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ traded up $0.19 during trading on Thursday, hitting $60.07. 3,401,674 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,191,167. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.88 and a 52-week high of $64.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.19 and a 200 day moving average of $56.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $34.63 billion, a PE ratio of 31.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.94.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.02). Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.98% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.32%.

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.