Sentry Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Sentry Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 17.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 301 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $89,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thoma Bravo L.P. purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,166,454,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 7.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,239,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,043,936,000 after buying an additional 3,173,981 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 28.4% in the first quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,436,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $532,357,000 after buying an additional 1,866,219 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth about $239,347,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 26.5% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,878,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $181,609,000 after buying an additional 602,040 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Nasdaq from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America raised Nasdaq from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.08.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NDAQ stock opened at $73.00 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $67.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.95. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.88 and a 52-week high of $74.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.42, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its 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. Nasdaq had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 15.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 50.53%.

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.