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

Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) have been given an average rating of “Buy” by the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $107.5385.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on NDAQ shares. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, April 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $104.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total transaction of $1,408,258.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 215,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,530,126. The trade was a 6.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total value of $117,508.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $896,104.98. This represents a 11.59% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,551 shares of company stock worth $2,225,990. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Nasdaq by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,106,000 after buying an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 34,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,652,000 after acquiring an additional 10,110 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 14,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 2,584 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 345.5% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the period. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 4.4% during the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 11,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $84.39 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $87.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.07. Nasdaq has a 1-year low of $76.55 and a 1-year high of $101.79. The company has a market cap of $47.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The firm’s revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 37.35%.

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.