Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Stock Price

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its price target boosted by Barclays from $115.00 to $116.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $92.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, January 12th. TD Cowen raised Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price target on Nasdaq and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.08.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $88.09 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $85.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.69. Nasdaq has a one year low of $65.70 and a one 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 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $50.07 billion, a PE ratio of 28.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. Nasdaq had a net margin of 21.77% and a return on equity of 16.90%. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 34.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total transaction of $9,706,923.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,965,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $167,953,765.44. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 506,451 shares of company stock worth $47,142,951. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Orgel Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Orgel Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 8,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $831,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

About Nasdaq

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.