Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Has $22.83 Million Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lessened its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 0.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 378,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,350 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $22,826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its position in Nasdaq by 94.8% during the 2nd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 89.3% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 164.4% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Nasdaq from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of 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 increased their target price on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Nasdaq from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Nasdaq from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.08.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

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

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $74.29 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.35. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.88 and a 1-year high of $74.36. The stock has a market cap of $42.73 billion, a PE ratio of 39.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.95.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 14.43%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.