Montag A & Associates Inc. Grows Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 62,582 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,619 shares during the quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $4,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NDAQ. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 worth $2,835,235,000 after acquiring an additional 24,084,154 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position 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 worth $292,040,000 after acquiring an additional 3,970,658 shares during the period. 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 valued at $1,310,653,000 after buying an additional 1,811,616 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $110,867,000. Finally, 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 valued at $627,596,000 after buying an additional 1,096,090 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NDAQ shares. William Blair started coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, November 25th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Nasdaq from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.88.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $4,532,778.56. The trade was a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ traded up $1.35 on Wednesday, hitting $82.59. 2,232,852 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,728,463. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $54.90 and a 1-year high of $84.15. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $79.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.99.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Nasdaq's payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

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.