Northern Trust Corp Grows Stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 18.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,994,396 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 610,457 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.69% of Nasdaq worth $308,807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,954,334 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $537,640,000 after acquiring an additional 335,565 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 394,626 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,509,000 after purchasing an additional 16,900 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 40,173 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,106,000 after purchasing an additional 3,877 shares in the last quarter. Oxford Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $858,000. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $594,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NDAQ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group restated a "cautious" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Nasdaq from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $85.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total value of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at $4,398,253.92. This represents a 20.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total value of $47,179.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,980 shares in the company, valued at $4,450,783.80. This trade represents a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,116 shares of company stock valued at $1,434,818. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NDAQ stock traded up $2.04 on Friday, hitting $78.18. The company had a trading volume of 2,353,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,795,037. The stock has a market cap of $44.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $74.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.58. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.28 and a 12-month high of $84.15.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. Nasdaq's revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This is a boost from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio is 49.09%.

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.