Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 21,566 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Lazard Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 17.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,566 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $6,598,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 7.5% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 240,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,198,000 after purchasing an additional 16,797 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth $1,949,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 312.0% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 183,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,601,000 after purchasing an additional 139,228 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 415,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,134,000 after purchasing an additional 46,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 237.3% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 30,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,946,000 after purchasing an additional 21,699 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,036 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were 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 approximately $3,511,710.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $67.50 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.83 billion, a PE ratio of 35.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.81. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $46.88 and a one year high of $67.77.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 15.45%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NDAQ. Argus lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Nasdaq from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $64.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.25.

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.