Oppenheimer Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Stock Price

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its target price reduced by Oppenheimer from $89.00 to $85.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of other reports. StockNews.com downgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Nasdaq from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $74.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.63.

Nasdaq Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $71.53 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $41.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.26, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $76.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.42. Nasdaq has a 1 year low of $58.10 and a 1 year high of $84.15.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. As a group, research analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at $4,398,253.92. The trade was a 20.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total value of $285,460.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,778.56. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,116 shares of company stock valued at $1,434,818 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

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