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

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day 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 changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $80.16.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on NDAQ shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group boosted 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.87.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.71, for a total value of $454,260.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 215,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,320,274.73. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 142,830 shares in the company, valued at $10,757,955.60. This trade represents a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,459 shares of company stock valued at $3,811,808 over the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 163.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,833,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,835,235,000 after purchasing an additional 24,084,154 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 11.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,951,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,310,653,000 after buying an additional 1,811,616 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 9.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,761,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $783,181,000 after buying an additional 932,665 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 14.6% during the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,596,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $627,596,000 after buying an additional 1,096,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 28.4% during the first quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,436,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $532,357,000 after buying an additional 1,866,219 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.