Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. cut its Nasdaq stake by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 16,840 shares and ending with 108,187 shares worth about $10.5 million.
• Nasdaq’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $0.96 versus $0.93 expected and revenue of $2.14 billion versus $1.42 billion expected, while revenue rose 13.7% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.31 per share from $0.27, and analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $107.15.

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 13.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 108,187 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 16,840 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.'s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $10,508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,648,406 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,275,902,000 after acquiring an additional 3,848,406 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Nasdaq by 7.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,619,192 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,735,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,348 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Nasdaq by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,627,767 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,683,485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258,964 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter valued at about $110,259,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 129.0% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 2,159,556 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $191,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216,580 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NDAQ. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $109.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. TD Cowen raised Nasdaq from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total transaction of $700,222.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 141,035 shares in the company, valued at $12,808,798.70. This represents a 5.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total transaction of $9,706,923.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,965,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,953,765.44. This trade represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 231,002 shares of company stock valued at $20,295,941 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $90.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $50.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $87.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.82. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.09 and a 1-year high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.53%.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology company that operates one of the world's leading electronic securities exchanges and provides a broad array of products and services to capital markets participants. Its core activities include operating the Nasdaq Stock Market and other trading venues, developing and supplying market technology and matching engines to exchanges and trading firms, licensing market data and indices, and offering clearing, trade execution and post-trade solutions. The company also provides market surveillance, risk management and regulatory technology used by exchanges and regulators.

Founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) as the first electronic stock market, Nasdaq has evolved into a diversified marketplace and technology provider.

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