Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Shares Sold by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Key Points

• Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. has reduced its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. by 0.3%, now holding approximately 1.5% of the company's shares.
• Nasdaq's stock price opened at $88.90, and the company recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.85, exceeding analyst expectations.
• Nasdaq declared a $0.27 quarterly dividend with an annual yield of 1.2%, reflecting a payout ratio of 41.54%.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 0.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,868,135 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,685 shares during the period. Nasdaq accounts for approximately 1.5% of Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. owned approximately 0.33% of Nasdaq worth $167,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its position in Nasdaq by 72.7% in the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 285 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 8,825 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $669,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 0.5% in the first quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 30,082 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,282,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 194.6% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Finally, Compass Capital Corp MA ADV lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Compass Capital Corp MA ADV now owns 15,995 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,201,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nasdaq Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $88.90 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.94. The company has a market cap of $51.01 billion, a PE ratio of 34.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.98. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.84 and a 52 week high of $97.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96.

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

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.49, for a total value of $201,006.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 92,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,837,694.99. This represents a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 8,691 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.45, for a total transaction of $812,173.95. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $829,742.55. The trade was a 49.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group raised shares of Nasdaq from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $95.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $101.00 price objective (up previously from $96.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $97.25.

About Nasdaq

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.

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