Merit Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $277,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NDAQ. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Nasdaq by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $723,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 101,200.0% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 10,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $768,000 after purchasing an additional 10,120 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 60.3% during the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 21,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,596,000 after purchasing an additional 7,912 shares during the period. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 95,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,209,000 after purchasing an additional 5,310 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 943,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $71,557,000 after acquiring an additional 100,604 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Citigroup cut their target price on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America raised their target price on Nasdaq from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Nasdaq from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.50.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $86.79 on Thursday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $77.96 and a 200-day moving average of $78.57. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.28 and a twelve month high of $87.50. The firm has a market cap of $49.83 billion, a PE ratio of 45.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.00.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. Nasdaq’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 49.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total transaction of $47,179.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,980 shares in the company, valued at $4,450,783.80. This represents a 1.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. The trade was a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,616 shares of company stock valued at $1,813,598 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.