Northern Trust Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. by 1.8% during the first quarter, owning over 4 million shares valued at approximately $308 million.
• Several other institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Ameriprise Financial Inc., also raised their stakes in Nasdaq, reflecting growing institutional interest in the company.
• Nasdaq reported strong earnings with $1.31 billion in revenue for the quarter, surpassing expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 12.7%.

Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,064,551 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 70,155 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.71% of Nasdaq worth $308,337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vestcor Inc lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 1.6% in the 1st 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 period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,303 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,260,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 2,829 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 194.6% in the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Finally, Compass Capital Corp MA ADV lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $1,201,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NDAQ. UBS Group upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $101.00 price target (up previously from $96.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.06.

Nasdaq Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ traded up $0.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $94.75. The company had a trading volume of 2,038,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,088,078. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $91.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.80. The company has a market capitalization of $54.37 billion, a PE ratio of 36.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $64.84 and a one year high of $97.63.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 15.90%. Nasdaq's revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.69 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 11,508 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.87, for a total transaction of $1,022,715.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 111,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,867,680.45. The trade was a 9.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.03, for a total transaction of $664,240.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 211,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,552,957.15. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,409 shares of company stock worth $2,887,839. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

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.