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

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $107.1538.

A number of research analysts have commented on NDAQ shares. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $109.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $108.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd.

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 dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total value of $117,508.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total transaction of $700,222.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 141,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,808,798.70. The trade was a 5.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 231,002 shares of company stock worth $20,295,941 over the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $91.98 on Wednesday. Nasdaq has a 1-year low of $77.09 and a 1-year high of $101.79. The stock has a market cap of $52.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 37.35%.

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.