Harmony Asset Management LLC Buys New Position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Harmony Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 2,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in Nasdaq by 45.2% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,736,000 after buying an additional 8,974 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Nasdaq by 52.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 30,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,907,000 after buying an additional 10,427 shares during the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Nasdaq by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,295,000 after buying an additional 23,557 shares during the last quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $10,400,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in Nasdaq by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,035,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,426,000 after buying an additional 44,432 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NDAQ shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James upgraded Nasdaq from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Nasdaq from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.87.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $80.99 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $76.17 and a 200-day moving average of $69.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.62 and a 12 month high of $83.77.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 13.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 57.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 6,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.71, for a total transaction of $454,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 215,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,320,274.73. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.92, for a total value of $935,040.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 114,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,928,073.60. The trade was a 9.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,459 shares of company stock valued at $3,811,808. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.