Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Price Target Raised to $78.00

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its target price upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Nasdaq from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $64.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com lowered Nasdaq from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Nasdaq from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $68.25.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $66.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.77. The stock has a market cap of $38.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.94. Nasdaq has a twelve month low of $46.88 and a twelve month high of $67.77.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 15.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 50.53%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.89, for a total value of $181,826.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 58,636 shares in the company, valued at $3,511,710.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smithfield Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 1.6% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 11,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $715,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 89.3% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New grew its position in Nasdaq by 5.6% during the first quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 3,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop National Bank increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 18.6% during the second quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 1,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

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.