Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)’s share 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 changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on NDAQ. Raymond James lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.88.

Nasdaq Trading Up 0.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.98.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.91%. As a group, analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 5,742 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total value of $444,086.28. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,075 shares of the business’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 value of $950,906.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,505 shares in the company, valued at $8,072,268.75. This trade represents a 10.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,817 shares of company stock worth $2,330,033 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 163.3% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake 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. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,761,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $783,181,000 after buying an additional 932,665 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P increased its stake in Nasdaq by 14.6% in 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 buying an additional 1,096,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 13,532.3% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $292,040,000 after acquiring an additional 3,970,658 shares during the period. 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.