Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 1,531 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,531 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $1,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Founders Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 106.6% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.88.

Nasdaq Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $75.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $79.17 and its 200-day moving average is $77.40. The stock has a market cap of $43.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.35, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.10 and a 52-week high of $84.15.

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

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total value of $285,460.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,532,778.56. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. This represents a 20.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.