Consolidated Planning Corp Acquires Shares of 8,444 Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Consolidated Planning Corp purchased a new position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 8,444 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $653,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 163.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,833,510 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,835,235,000 after purchasing an additional 24,084,154 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 13,532.3% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $292,040,000 after buying an additional 3,970,658 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 11.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,951,698 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,310,653,000 after buying an additional 1,811,616 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at about $110,867,000. Finally, Harris Associates L P grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $627,596,000 after buying an additional 1,096,090 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NDAQ stock traded down $0.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $80.91. The company had a trading volume of 2,011,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,729,579. The firm has a market cap of $46.50 billion, a PE ratio of 42.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $79.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.96. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $54.90 and a 12 month high of $84.15.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. On average, analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,075 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.75, for a total value of $950,906.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,072,268.75. The trade was a 10.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,532,778.56. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NDAQ. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Nasdaq from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.88.

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.