Allstate Corp Buys Shares of 12,857 Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Allstate Corp purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 12,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $994,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 9,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Crestmont Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Crestmont Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

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

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $75.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.65. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.10 and a 52 week 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.51, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on NDAQ. StockNews.com raised shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.88.

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.