Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Stock Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)’s stock price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $71.76 and traded as high as $78.01. Nasdaq shares last traded at $77.31, with a volume of 2,287,987 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on NDAQ. Barclays upped their target price on Nasdaq from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.40.

Nasdaq Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $44.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.37, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $78.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.93.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 13.67%. The company’s revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.71, for a total value of $454,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 215,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,320,274.73. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total transaction of $1,027,515.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 142,830 shares in the company, valued at $10,757,955.60. This represents a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,459 shares of company stock worth $3,811,808. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NDAQ. Cumberland Partners Ltd bought a new position in Nasdaq during the third quarter worth about $10,400,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 49.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 164,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,987,000 after purchasing an additional 54,594 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,701,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,358,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,144,000 after purchasing an additional 174,778 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Nasdaq by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,223,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $235,343,000 after purchasing an additional 313,079 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

About Nasdaq

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.