Rosenblatt Securities Trims Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Target Price to $76.00

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its price target trimmed by Rosenblatt Securities from $82.00 to $76.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on NDAQ. Citigroup raised their price target on Nasdaq from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Nasdaq from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued an overweight rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer raised 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Nasdaq from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $73.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $66.92.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $60.08 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 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 has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $60.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.63.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total transaction of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the sale, 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 available through this link. In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,879,785.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,341,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,383,809,610. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 102,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,453,000 after acquiring an additional 2,942 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 11,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Nasdaq by 4.9% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,206,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,136,000 after purchasing an additional 55,865 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 4.3% in the first quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 17,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 4.1% in the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 380,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,988,000 after purchasing an additional 15,098 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

About Nasdaq

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.