Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Nasdaq from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and upped their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $80.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $75.00 to $74.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $66.92.

Nasdaq Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $60.08 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.56 billion, a PE ratio of 31.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $60.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.63. Nasdaq has a 52-week low of $46.88 and a 52-week high of $64.25.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.02). Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.98% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This is an increase from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.32%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total value of $465,534.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,879,785.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total value of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,341,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,383,809,610. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total transaction of $465,534.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 61,672 shares in the company, valued at $3,879,785.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Thoma Bravo L.P. bought a new stake in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,166,454,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Nasdaq by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,065,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,620,131,000 after purchasing an additional 745,965 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Nasdaq by 214.0% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,281,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $305,224,000 after purchasing an additional 4,280,846 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Nasdaq by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,787,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $232,564,000 after purchasing an additional 681,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,347,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.