Guardian Partners Inc. Buys New Shares in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 38,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,006,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Founders Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 106.6% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $75.55 on Friday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.10 and a 52-week high of $84.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.44. The company has a market capitalization of $43.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.35, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. Research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,778.56. The trade was a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. The trade was a 20.04 % 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.

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.