Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $86.30, but opened at $82.32. Nasdaq shares last traded at $83.9480, with a volume of 1,806,568 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NDAQ. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target (up from $99.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, January 12th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.13.

Nasdaq Trading Down 2.7%

The company has a market capitalization of $47.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $95.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.59.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 21.77% and a return on equity of 16.90%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 34.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Nasdaq news, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.01, for a total value of $450,045.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 125,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,568,656.74. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,924,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $185,541,400.17. This trade represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 604,500 shares of company stock valued at $58,440,045 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,916,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,819,727,000 after acquiring an additional 268,481 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,627,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,683,485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258,964 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,619,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,735,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,348 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,851,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,243,807,000 after purchasing an additional 378,577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth $530,100,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.