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

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $85.88.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $91.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th.

Nasdaq Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $70.66 on Tuesday. Nasdaq has a 1-year low of $58.10 and a 1-year high of $84.15. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $75.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. Equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total value of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,778.56. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at $4,398,253.92. The trade was a 20.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,116 shares of company stock valued at $1,434,818 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 194.6% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Nasdaq by 1,509.5% during the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.