Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Reaches New 52-Week High After Dividend Announcement

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $74.95 and last traded at $74.80, with a volume of 1054824 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $73.91.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on NDAQ shares. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.07.

Nasdaq Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $43.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $72.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.53.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 15.45%. The company’s revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total value of $2,764,295,688.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,804,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,764,295,688.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 13.2% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 111,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,158,000 after purchasing an additional 13,010 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $265,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 502,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,676,000 after buying an additional 1,439 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 85,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,272,000 after buying an additional 10,800 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 33.7% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 35,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,544,000 after acquiring an additional 8,837 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

About Nasdaq

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.