Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Stake in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its Nasdaq stake by 26.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 121,408 shares and leaving it with 332,973 shares valued at about $32.4 million.
• Nasdaq’s recent quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $0.96 versus the $0.93 estimate and revenue of $2.14 billion, up 13.7% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.31 per share from $0.27, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Moderate Buy with an average price target of $107.15.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 26.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 332,973 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 121,408 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.06% of Nasdaq worth $32,390,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 112.9% in the 3rd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 579 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NDAQ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Argus raised Nasdaq to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Nasdaq from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $107.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total value of $1,408,258.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 215,208 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,530,126. The trade was a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total value of $117,508.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at $896,104.98. This trade represents a 11.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 231,002 shares of company stock worth $20,295,941 in the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $91.06 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.98. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.09 and a 1-year high of $101.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $87.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.71.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Nasdaq's payout ratio is 32.53%.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology company that operates one of the world's leading electronic securities exchanges and provides a broad array of products and services to capital markets participants. Its core activities include operating the Nasdaq Stock Market and other trading venues, developing and supplying market technology and matching engines to exchanges and trading firms, licensing market data and indices, and offering clearing, trade execution and post-trade solutions. The company also provides market surveillance, risk management and regulatory technology used by exchanges and regulators.

Founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) as the first electronic stock market, Nasdaq has evolved into a diversified marketplace and technology provider.

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