Fifth Third Bancorp Buys 162,019 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 348.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 208,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 162,019 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $17,703,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NDAQ. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $149,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Orgel Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Orgel Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantum Portfolio Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 1.8% during the first quarter. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC now owns 7,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $606,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NDAQ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price objective on Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $113.00 target price (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 target price on Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.92.

Nasdaq Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $89.21 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $50.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.55 and a 12-month high of $101.79. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.89.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.31 dividend. 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 of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 37.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total value of $700,222.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 141,035 shares in the company, valued at $12,808,798.70. This represents a 5.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 6.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 24,551 shares of company stock valued at $2,225,990 in the last ninety days. 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.