Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Grows Stock Position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 196.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,010,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 670,024 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned 0.18% of Nasdaq worth $63,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 89.3% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 74.9% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 158.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the third quarter valued at $65,000. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.89, for a total transaction of $181,826.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 58,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,511,710.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nasdaq Trading Up 1.0 %

NDAQ traded up $0.59 on Tuesday, hitting $60.07. 119,149 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,880,560. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.88 and a 12 month high of $64.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.55 billion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.94.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 15.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.69 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. This is an increase from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is 50.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on NDAQ shares. Argus raised their target price on Nasdaq from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Edward Jones initiated coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Nasdaq from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.00.

Nasdaq 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.