Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Lowered to “Equal Weight” Rating by Morgan Stanley

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) was downgraded by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They presently have a $74.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 6.67% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.25.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $69.37 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.64. Nasdaq has a fifty-two week low of $58.10 and a fifty-two week high of $84.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $39.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. Sell-side analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,778.56. This trade represents a 5.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at $4,398,253.92. This represents a 20.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,116 shares of company stock worth $1,434,818. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Founders Capital Management bought a new stake in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Nasdaq by 106.6% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq, Inc operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries worldwide. It operates in three segments: Capital Access Platforms, Financial Technology, and Market Services. The Capital Access Platforms segment sells and distributes historical and real-time market data; and develops and licenses Nasdaq-branded indices and financial products.