Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Purchases 5,507 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. by 9.4% during Q1, acquiring an additional 5,507 shares and bringing its total holdings to 64,012 shares valued at approximately $4.86 million.
• Several institutional investors have significantly raised their positions in Nasdaq recently, with Nuveen LLC investing about $241.6 million and Ameriprise Financial Inc. increasing its stake by 37.9%.
• Analysts have shown increased confidence in Nasdaq stocks, with UBS Group upgrading their rating to "buy" and raising the price target from $95 to $115, reflecting a positive outlook on the company's future performance.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 9.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 64,012 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,507 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $4,856,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq in the first quarter valued at about $241,614,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,005,047 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $464,676,000 after buying an additional 1,650,201 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 40.8% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,494,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $416,795,000 after buying an additional 1,592,057 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 7,367.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,129,328 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $85,671,000 after buying an additional 1,114,205 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 5.1% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,433,885 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,550,115,000 after buying an additional 993,553 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised Nasdaq from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Nasdaq from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $97.06.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $94.84 on Thursday. 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 1 year low of $64.84 and a 1 year high of $97.63. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $92.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.04. The company has a market cap of $54.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.48, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.00.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.07. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 18.59%.The business had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. The company's revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In related news, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 8,691 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.45, for a total transaction of $812,173.95. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at $829,742.55. This represents a 49.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 11,508 shares of the company'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 sale, the executive vice president directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,409 shares of company stock valued at $2,223,599 over the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Nasdaq Company 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.

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