BNP Paribas Financial Markets Buys 97,666 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 23.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 512,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 97,666 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Nasdaq were worth $32,356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 89.3% in the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 74.9% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 158.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 313.7% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Up 0.4 %

NDAQ stock traded up $0.24 during trading on Friday, reaching $60.38. 825,796 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,916,530. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $60.22 and its 200 day moving average is $59.14. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.88 and a twelve month high of $64.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $34.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Argus boosted their price objective on Nasdaq from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley raised Nasdaq from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Nasdaq from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Nasdaq from $75.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.89, for a total value of $181,826.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 58,636 shares in the company, valued at $3,511,710.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq 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.