Johnson Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 394.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,218 shares during the quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 34,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,652,000 after purchasing an additional 10,110 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 22.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 14,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 2,584 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 345.5% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 463 shares during the period. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 4.4% in the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 11,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $90.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $51.03 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.99. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.55 and a 1 year high of $101.79. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.58. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. Nasdaq’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.35%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider owned 215,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,530,126. This represents a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ab Investor bought 56,782 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $85.98 per share, with a total value of $4,882,116.36. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 58,439,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,024,603,103.84. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 24,551 shares of company stock valued at $2,225,990 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on NDAQ shares. Loop Capital set a $113.00 target price on Nasdaq in a report on Friday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $113.00 price target (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $105.00 price target (up from $101.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $108.00.

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.