Barclays Cuts Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Price Target to $87.00

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its price objective lowered by Barclays from $95.00 to $87.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on NDAQ. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.88.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $71.99 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.49, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. Nasdaq has a 52 week low of $58.10 and a 52 week high of $84.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.45.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. This trade represents a 20.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total transaction of $47,179.17. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,450,783.80. This trade represents a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,116 shares of company stock worth $1,434,818 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 80,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,185,000 after buying an additional 21,000 shares during the period. NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd acquired a new stake in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Nasdaq by 75.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 53,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,170,000 after purchasing an additional 23,244 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 892.3% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 60,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,689,000 after purchasing an additional 54,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 26.1% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 44,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,454,000 after purchasing an additional 9,130 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.