Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Makes New $5.77 Million Investment in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 73,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,767,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,645,000. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the second quarter worth $13,382,000. George Kaiser Family Foundation purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the second quarter valued at $441,000. Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the second quarter valued at $223,000. Finally, Korea Investment CORP acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the second quarter valued at $22,520,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NDAQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research raised Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $105.00 price target (up from $101.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.30.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $98.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.55 and a 1 year high of $101.79. The company has a market capitalization of $54.90 billion, a PE ratio of 28.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a fifty day moving average of $89.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.97.

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

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors 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 yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Ab Investor acquired 56,782 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $85.98 per share, for a total transaction of $4,882,116.36. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 58,439,208 shares in the company, valued at $5,024,603,103.84. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were 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 approximately $19,751,846.35. This represents a 5.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 41,797 shares of company stock valued at $3,926,319 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq 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.