Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fifteen have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $103.80.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Argus upgraded Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the company’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 owned 125,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,568,656.74. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.91, for a total transaction of $29,073,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,924,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,542,349.73. This represents a 13.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 697,340 shares of company stock worth $66,803,072 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 2.3% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,935 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $149,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Orgel Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Orgel Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nasdaq Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of NDAQ opened at $83.52 on Tuesday. Nasdaq has a 1-year low of $64.84 and a 1-year high of $101.79. The company has a market capitalization of $47.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.04. 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.93.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 21.77% and a return on equity of 16.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.95%.

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.