Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Announces $0.24 Quarterly Dividend

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 29th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.24 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%.

Nasdaq has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 12 years. Nasdaq has a payout ratio of 26.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Nasdaq to earn $3.14 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.6%.

Nasdaq Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $81.73 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.51. Nasdaq has a 12 month low of $54.90 and a 12 month high of $83.77. The company has a market capitalization of $46.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.94, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.98.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 14.56%. Equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 5,742 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total value of $444,086.28. Following the sale, the insider now owns 205,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,918,196.14. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.75, for a total value of $950,906.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,072,268.75. This represents a 10.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,817 shares of company stock worth $2,330,033. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on NDAQ. Argus raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. William Blair began coverage on Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.73.

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.