Amalgamated Bank Boosts Stock Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 81,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 430 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $6,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Founders Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 106.6% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nasdaq Stock Up 0.6 %

NDAQ stock opened at $80.04 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $79.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.74. The stock has a market cap of $46.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.69, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.99. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.51 and a twelve month high of $84.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,532,778.56. This trade represents a 5.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Argus raised their price target on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.88.

Nasdaq Company 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.