Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $80.87.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on NDAQ shares. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Nasdaq from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $78.76 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $74.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.35. The company has a market capitalization of $45.27 billion, a PE ratio of 47.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.95. Nasdaq has a 1 year low of $53.36 and a 1 year high of $80.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 13.67%. The business’s revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 2.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 57.49%.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 5,742 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total transaction of $444,086.28. Following the sale, the insider now owns 205,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,918,196.14. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total value of $1,027,515.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 142,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,757,955.60. This represents a 8.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,384 shares of company stock valued at $2,860,902 in the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 94.8% during the 2nd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 164.4% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Company Profile

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.