Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ – Get Rating) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,310,000 shares, an increase of 17.9% from the June 30th total of 1,960,000 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 994,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.
Insider Activity
In other Nasdaq news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $224,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,440,640. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 1,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.76, for a total transaction of $185,329.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,439,163.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $224,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,504 shares in the company, valued at $3,440,640. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,311 shares of company stock valued at $893,290. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq
Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Nasdaq by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,756,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,273,164,000 after acquiring an additional 126,348 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 4.0% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,594,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,066,063,000 after buying an additional 443,130 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 0.3% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,573,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,527,880,000 after purchasing an additional 27,185 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,510,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,157,185,000 after buying an additional 72,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Nasdaq by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,462,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $516,168,000 after purchasing an additional 20,527 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.
Nasdaq Stock Down 0.1 %
NDAQ opened at $178.69 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $158.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.94. Nasdaq has a twelve month low of $140.31 and a twelve month high of $214.96. The firm has a market cap of $29.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.39, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.95.
Nasdaq shares are set to split before the market opens on Monday, August 29th. The 3-1 split was announced on Wednesday, July 20th. The newly created shares will be issued to shareholders after the market closes on Friday, August 26th.
Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $893.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $881.86 million. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 21.14% and a net margin of 19.25%. Nasdaq’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 7.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Nasdaq Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 15th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is 35.45%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
NDAQ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $239.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 19th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $188.00 to $184.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 13th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $199.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $175.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $182.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.27.
Nasdaq Company Profile
Nasdaq, Inc operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries worldwide. The Market Technology segment includes anti financial crime technology business, which offers Nasdaq Trade Surveillance, a SaaS solution for brokers and other market participants to assist them in complying with market rules, regulations, and internal market surveillance policies; Nasdaq Automated Investigator, a cloud-deployed anti-money laundering tool; and Verafin, a SaaS technology provider of anti-financial crime management solutions.