Argus Upgrades Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) to Strong-Buy

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) was upgraded by equities researchers at Argus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

NDAQ has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up previously from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.13.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NDAQ stock opened at $79.01 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.33. Nasdaq has a 1 year low of $64.84 and a 1 year high of $101.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.11 billion, a PE ratio of 25.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 16.90% and a net margin of 21.77%.The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total value of $28,917,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,924,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $185,541,400.17. This represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.01, for a total value of $450,045.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 125,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,568,656.74. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 604,500 shares of company stock worth $58,440,045 in the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the second quarter worth $1,511,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 41.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 77,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,819,000 after acquiring an additional 22,685 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 800,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,594,000 after acquiring an additional 72,032 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 74.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 82,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,259,000 after acquiring an additional 35,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,136,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $101,607,000 after acquiring an additional 17,369 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Company Profile

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology company that operates one of the world’s leading electronic securities exchanges and provides a broad array of products and services to capital markets participants. Its core activities include operating the Nasdaq Stock Market and other trading venues, developing and supplying market technology and matching engines to exchanges and trading firms, licensing market data and indices, and offering clearing, trade execution and post-trade solutions. The company also provides market surveillance, risk management and regulatory technology used by exchanges and regulators.

Founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) as the first electronic stock market, Nasdaq has evolved into a diversified marketplace and technology provider.