Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Has $15.20 Million Position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 7.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 240,851 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 16,797 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Nasdaq were worth $15,198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,949,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Nasdaq by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 415,101 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $24,134,000 after buying an additional 46,957 shares during the last quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. boosted its position in Nasdaq by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 365,494 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,250,000 after buying an additional 83,227 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Nasdaq by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,326,799 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $135,396,000 after buying an additional 40,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch AG boosted its position in Nasdaq by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 843,383 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,034,000 after buying an additional 47,440 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,036 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.89, for a total transaction of $181,826.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 58,636 shares in the company, valued at $3,511,710.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $60.38. The stock had a trading volume of 825,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,916,530. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $60.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.17. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.88 and a 1-year high of $64.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.78, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.02). Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.98% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.69 EPS. Nasdaq's revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This is a positive change from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Edward Jones assumed coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Nasdaq from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Nasdaq from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Nasdaq from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $67.00.

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.