Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $108.90 and last traded at $108.2720, with a volume of 7,532 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $106.97.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $108.00 price target (up from $104.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Barclays set a $121.00 price target on Nasdaq and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank began coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, October 30th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.53.

Nasdaq Stock Down 2.6%

The stock has a market capitalization of $59.29 billion, a PE ratio of 29.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $96.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.47 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 22.81%. Nasdaq’s revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 33.88%.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In related news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.38, for a total value of $413,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 118,293 shares in the company, valued at $12,229,130.34. The trade was a 3.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Tal Cohen sold 10,390 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.34, for a total transaction of $1,073,702.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 205,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,192,553.84. The trade was a 4.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 25,166 shares of company stock valued at $2,577,831 in the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,931,637,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter valued at about $603,631,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter valued at about $377,818,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter valued at about $220,130,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter worth about $180,099,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology and market infrastructure company best known for operating the Nasdaq Stock Market, one of the world’s largest electronic stock exchanges. The company provides listing services for public companies and operates trading venues for equities, options and other financial products. Its exchange business serves companies, investors and market participants in the United States, as well as through Nasdaq’s Nordic and Baltic market operations.

Beyond its exchange activities, Nasdaq provides market data, analytics, indexes and technology used by exchanges, brokers, banks, asset managers and other financial institutions.