Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Hits New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $77.08 and last traded at $76.7950, with a volume of 2901453 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $78.56.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $104.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.79.

Nasdaq Trading Down 2.2%

The firm has a market capitalization of $43.46 billion, a PE ratio of 23.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $88.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.65.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. Nasdaq had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 37.35%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total transaction of $9,706,923.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,965,751 shares in the company, valued at $167,953,765.44. This trade represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total value of $1,408,258.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 215,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,530,126. This represents a 6.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 138,162 shares of company stock worth $11,932,913. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac bought a new position in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

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.