Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $84.20.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NDAQ. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Nasdaq from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday.

Nasdaq Trading Up 2.2 %

NDAQ opened at $78.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.84 billion, a PE ratio of 46.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Nasdaq has a fifty-two week low of $54.90 and a fifty-two week high of $83.77. The company’s 50-day moving average is $79.23 and its 200 day moving average is $72.60.

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

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.49%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

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

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Nasdaq by 163.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,833,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,835,235,000 after purchasing an additional 24,084,154 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 13,532.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $292,040,000 after buying an additional 3,970,658 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,951,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,310,653,000 after buying an additional 1,811,616 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,596,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $627,596,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Nasdaq by 9.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,761,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $783,181,000 after acquiring an additional 932,665 shares in the last quarter. 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.