19,131 Shares in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Acquired by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Key Points

• Empirical Wealth Management acquired 19,131 shares of Nasdaq, Inc., valued at approximately $1.45 million, as reported in their latest SEC filing.
• Major institutional investors, including Ameriprise Financial and Invesco, have significantly increased their stakes in Nasdaq, indicating strong market confidence.
• Nasdaq recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, with an expected annual dividend yield of 1.1% and a payout ratio of 41.54%.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 19,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,451,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vestcor Inc raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 8,825 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $669,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,303 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,260,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 4,103 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its position in Nasdaq by 7.1% during the first quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 2,829 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in Nasdaq by 194.6% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nasdaq Stock Up 1.8%

NASDAQ:NDAQ traded up $1.74 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $96.91. 2,327,307 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,563,475. The firm has a market cap of $55.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.00. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.33 and a twelve month high of $97.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $88.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.30.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.07. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 18.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. Nasdaq's quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Nasdaq's payout ratio is 41.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $95.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $97.06.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.03, for a total value of $664,240.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 211,405 shares in the company, valued at $17,552,957.15. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.17, for a total value of $187,702.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 94,656 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,440,475.52. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,304 shares of company stock worth $2,686,833. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.