Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Sells 175,465 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. trimmed its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 23.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 559,858 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 175,465 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned about 0.10% of Nasdaq worth $43,282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,975 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial grew its stake in Nasdaq by 1.0% in the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 13,842 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,011,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Nasdaq by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 9,818 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $759,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,899 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 4.2% during the third quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,670 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on NDAQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. 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. Raymond James upped their target price on Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,075 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.75, for a total transaction of $950,906.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,072,268.75. This represents a 10.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated 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 $4,532,778.56. This trade represents a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Nasdaq stock traded down $0.37 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $79.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,681,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,834,910. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.90 and a 52 week high of $84.15. The company has a market capitalization of $45.93 billion, a PE ratio of 41.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Nasdaq's dividend 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.