Short Interest in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Grows By 19.9%

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) saw a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,150,000 shares, a growth of 19.9% from the January 15th total of 3,460,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,660,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total value of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,532,778.56. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 163.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,833,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,835,235,000 after acquiring an additional 24,084,154 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $424,285,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 13,532.3% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $292,040,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970,658 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,951,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,310,653,000 after buying an additional 1,811,616 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Nasdaq by 37.9% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,005,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $464,676,000 after buying an additional 1,650,201 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on NDAQ shares. Argus upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. William Blair started coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.88.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NDAQ stock traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $80.91. The company had a trading volume of 2,011,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,729,579. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Nasdaq has a fifty-two week low of $54.90 and a fifty-two week high of $84.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $79.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.50 billion, a PE ratio of 42.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.99.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. Analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is 50.00%.

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.