Petrus Trust Company LTA Acquires Shares of 9,138 Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• Petrus Trust Company LTA has made a new investment of $693,000 in Nasdaq, purchasing 9,138 shares of the financial services provider's stock during the first quarter.
• Nasdaq has reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.85, exceeding estimates of $0.78, alongside a revenue increase of 12.7% year-over-year, amounting to $1.31 billion.
• The company is set to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share on September 26th, indicating an annualized yield of 1.2%.

Petrus Trust Company LTA purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,138 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $693,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NDAQ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,979,661 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,019,037,000 after buying an additional 403,248 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 5.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 993,553 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P raised its position in Nasdaq by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,693,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $659,487,000 after purchasing an additional 101,983 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 9.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,785,047 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $438,854,000 after buying an additional 484,750 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 40.8% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,494,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $416,795,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592,057 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Nasdaq from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Nasdaq from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group raised Nasdaq from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays raised 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $97.06.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ traded up $1.19 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $95.85. 2,877,975 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,245,187. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.84 and a twelve month high of $97.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $55.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.87, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.02. The business's 50-day moving average price is $93.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.95.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion for 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.69 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 currently 41.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 11,508 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 9.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.49, for a total value of $201,006.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 92,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,837,694.99. This represents a 2.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 24,409 shares of company stock valued at $2,223,599. 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.