Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. William Blair began coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.87.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $83.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $47.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.46. Nasdaq has a twelve month low of $53.62 and a twelve month high of $83.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 5,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total transaction of $444,086.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 205,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,918,196.14. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total transaction of $1,027,515.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 142,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,757,955.60. The trade was a 8.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,459 shares of company stock valued at $3,811,808. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 60,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,420,000 after purchasing an additional 16,868 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,266,000. Sfmg LLC bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $207,000. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $651,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 50,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,103,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.