Mizuho Securities USA LLC Grows Stock Position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 46.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 39,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,387 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $3,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $647,000 after buying an additional 1,795 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter worth about $124,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,296,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,657,000 after buying an additional 195,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 14,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,026,000 after buying an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NDAQ. Barclays decreased their price target on Nasdaq from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.88.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $75.55 on Monday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.10 and a twelve month high of $84.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $79.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.45 billion, a PE ratio of 39.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. Research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,532,778.56. The trade was a 5.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total value of $1,102,179.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at $4,398,253.92. This trade represents a 20.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.