HighTower Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors cut its Nasdaq stake by 56.3% in the second quarter, selling 133,224 shares and retaining 103,350 shares worth approximately $8.15 million. Institutional investors still own 72.47% of NDAQ.
• Nasdaq reported quarterly EPS of $1.07, beating estimates of $0.98, while revenue rose 14.9% year over year to $2.53 billion. Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $110.30.
• Nasdaq Ventures plans to invest $100 million in Kraken parent Payward and collaborate on tokenized equities and market surveillance, targeting a potential 2027 launch. The opportunity could expand recurring technology revenue, but remains dependent on regulation, execution, and adoption.

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 56.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 103,350 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 133,224 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Nasdaq were worth $8,146,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,855,235 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $277,329,000 after acquiring an additional 45,783 shares during the period. MKP Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,996,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,245,000. National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 673,919 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $65,458,000 after purchasing an additional 68,368 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 717,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $69,727,000 after acquiring an additional 48,286 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Nasdaq

Here are the key news stories impacting Nasdaq this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Nasdaq Ventures agreed to invest $100 million in Payward, Kraken’s parent company, and plans to advance Nasdaq Equity Tokens for potential launch in 2027. The partnership could position Nasdaq to participate in 24/7 tokenized-equity trading and expand its digital-market infrastructure business. Nasdaq Deepens Relationship With Payward
• Positive Sentiment: The Payward agreement also includes a market-surveillance partnership, creating an opportunity for Nasdaq to generate recurring technology and compliance revenue across crypto, equities, derivatives, and tokenized assets. Nasdaq Invests in Kraken Parent
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest in NDAQ fell 34.2% to about 6.1 million shares as of August 31, equal to only 1.1% of shares outstanding and 2.3 days of average trading volume. The reduction suggests less bearish positioning and may provide a supportive technical signal.
• Positive Sentiment: Nasdaq’s global asset-manager survey identified private markets as the leading area of client demand, while 80% of firms reported using AI in product development. This supports potential growth for Nasdaq’s indexes, data, analytics, and eVestment businesses. Private Markets and AI Survey
• Neutral Sentiment: The survey also showed that demand is difficult to convert into scaled products: 71% of asset managers cited increasing competition, and only 26% use AI across multiple development stages. These findings highlight opportunity for Nasdaq but also execution challenges.
• Negative Sentiment: The tokenization opportunity remains several years away, with the targeted 2027 rollout dependent on regulatory approval, technology execution, and sufficient trading-volume adoption. Nasdaq’s $100 million investment may therefore weigh on near-term returns before producing material revenue.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider activity has been predominantly selling, including sales by CEO Adena Friedman and other executives, which may contribute to investor caution.

Nasdaq Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NDAQ opened at $92.01 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $93.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $76.55 and a 1-year high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.09. Nasdaq had a net margin of 22.60% and a return on equity of 18.38%. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.15%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, insider Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.35, for a total value of $1,060,813.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 205,001 shares in the company, valued at $19,751,846.35. This represents a 5.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total value of $1,203,930.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 128,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,881,214.73. This represents a 9.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,797 shares of company stock worth $3,926,319. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NDAQ has been the topic of several research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price objective on Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, July 20th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $111.00 price target (up from $108.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $110.30.

Nasdaq Company Profile

Nasdaq, Inc NASDAQ: NDAQ operates financial markets and provides technology, data and analytics services to exchanges, brokers, institutional investors, corporations and other financial institutions. The company is best known for operating the Nasdaq Stock Market, a major U.S. equities exchange and a prominent venue for technology and growth companies.

Nasdaq's businesses include listings, trading, market data, indexes, clearing and market infrastructure solutions. Through its technology platforms, the company provides exchange operators and financial institutions with systems for trading, surveillance, risk management, regulatory compliance and other market functions.

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