Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,050,000 shares, a decline of 16.7% from the July 31st total of 4,860,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,780,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of 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 raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut Nasdaq from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $76.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $68.54.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total transaction of $2,764,295,688.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,804,207 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,764,295,688.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its position in Nasdaq by 94.8% in the 2nd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 415 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 89.3% during the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 426 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 164.4% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 505 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Nasdaq Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NDAQ traded up $0.89 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $72.08. The stock had a trading volume of 3,073,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,927,436. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.70. Nasdaq has a 12 month low of $46.88 and a 12 month high of $72.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $41.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.94.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 2.73 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.53%.

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.