Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $81.19, but opened at $79.25. Nasdaq shares last traded at $79.67, with a volume of 1,766,182 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NDAQ. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Nasdaq from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.73.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.0 %

The company has a market cap of $46.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.75, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.46. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 13.67%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is 57.49%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.75, for a total transaction of $950,906.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,072,268.75. This trade represents a 10.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 5,742 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total transaction of $444,086.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 205,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,918,196.14. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,817 shares of company stock worth $2,330,033. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Founders Capital Management acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Claro Advisors LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 106.6% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.