Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Raises Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Smithfield Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 22.0% during the first quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 11,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 89.3% in the 1st 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 during the period. Cigna Investments Inc. New grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 3,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop National Bank increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 18.6% during the second quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 1,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $70.95 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.34, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.94. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $46.88 and a one year high of $71.33. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 15.45%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on NDAQ. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut Nasdaq from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $76.00 to $64.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.54.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total value of $2,764,295,688.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,804,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,764,295,688.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.