Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 166,804 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 125.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 299,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 166,804 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $23,161,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Founders Capital Management bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Claro Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Focused Wealth Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on NDAQ. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Nasdaq from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Nasdaq from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.73.

Nasdaq Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NDAQ opened at $78.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $45.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.90 and a 52 week high of $83.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.31.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 13.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 57.49%.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total transaction of $1,027,515.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 142,830 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.75, for a total value of $950,906.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,072,268.75. This trade represents a 10.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,459 shares of company stock valued at $3,811,808. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.