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

Truist Financial Corp lowered its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 347,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 25,512 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $33,748,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 100.0% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the third quarter worth $30,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the third quarter worth $45,000. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 112.9% during the third quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NDAQ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Argus raised Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price objective on Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In related news, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total transaction of $117,508.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $896,104.98. This trade represents a 11.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 231,002 shares of company stock valued at $20,295,941 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $89.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $86.63 and a 200 day moving average of $89.65. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.09 and a 1 year high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.