Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Invests $522,000 in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 6,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $522,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Founders Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position 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 during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its position in Nasdaq by 94.2% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NDAQ shares. StockNews.com upgraded Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Barclays dropped their target price on Nasdaq from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 $4,532,778.56. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $72.85 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $41.90 billion, a PE ratio of 37.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50 day moving average of $79.69 and a 200 day moving average of $77.28. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.96 and a 52 week high of $84.15.

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

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

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.