Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Invests $5.77 Million in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 73,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,767,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Nasdaq by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,916,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,819,727,000 after acquiring an additional 268,481 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,931,637,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,878,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,930,808,000 after purchasing an additional 259,408 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,851,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,243,807,000 after purchasing an additional 378,577 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 62.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,266,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $900,061,000 after acquiring an additional 3,567,843 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $98.22 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $54.90 billion, a PE ratio of 28.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.96. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $76.55 and a 12 month high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.09. Nasdaq had a net margin of 22.60% and a return on equity of 18.38%. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. Nasdaq’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NDAQ. Zacks Research raised Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 target price on Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $113.00 price target (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.30.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.35, for a total value of $1,060,813.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 205,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,751,846.35. The trade was a 5.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Ab Investor bought 56,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $85.98 per share, with a total value of $4,882,116.36. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 58,439,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,024,603,103.84. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 41,797 shares of company stock worth $3,926,319 over the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.