Truist Financial Corp Decreases Stake in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• Truist Financial Corp reduced its stake in Nasdaq by 6.8% to 347,451 shares (worth about $33.75M) at quarter-end, and institutional investors now own roughly 72.47% of the company.
• Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan for about $9.71M, and insiders have sold 231,002 shares totaling roughly $20.3M in the last 90 days.
• Nasdaq beat quarterly expectations (EPS $0.96 vs. $0.93) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.31 ($1.24 annualized, 1.4% yield), while analysts maintain a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $107.15.

Truist Financial Corp reduced its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 347,451 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 25,512 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned 0.06% of Nasdaq worth $33,748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Nasdaq by 100.0% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC raised its position in Nasdaq by 112.9% during the third quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 579 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In related news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total value of $9,706,923.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,965,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at $167,953,765.44. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total value of $117,508.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,104.98. This trade represents a 11.59% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 231,002 shares of company stock worth $20,295,941 in the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price objective on Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $120.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, January 12th. TD Cowen raised Nasdaq from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $107.15.

Nasdaq Trading Down 2.5%

NDAQ opened at $89.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $50.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.98. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $86.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.65. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $77.09 and a one year high of $101.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

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

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

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

Nasdaq Company Profile

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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