Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Research Coverage Started at Barclays

Barclays started coverage on shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in a research report released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $76.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on NDAQ. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $73.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $67.09.

Nasdaq Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NDAQ opened at $61.52 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $35.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.93. Nasdaq has a 12-month low of $46.88 and a 12-month high of $64.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $59.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 17.48% and a return on equity of 19.28%. Nasdaq’s revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.71%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 89.3% during the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Mango Five Family Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.