Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Hits New 12-Month High After Dividend Announcement

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $71.16 and last traded at $71.06, with a volume of 572683 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.59.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 50.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on NDAQ shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.54.

Nasdaq Stock Up 0.4 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.48. The firm has a market cap of $40.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.15, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 14.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 42,804,207 shares in the company, valued at $2,764,295,688.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Nasdaq by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 240,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,198,000 after buying an additional 16,797 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,949,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 312.0% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 183,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,601,000 after acquiring an additional 139,228 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 415,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,134,000 after acquiring an additional 46,957 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 237.3% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 30,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,946,000 after acquiring an additional 21,699 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

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.