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

Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ – Get Rating) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $213.17.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $230.00 to $217.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 27th. Argus raised shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $210.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 21st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $199.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $238.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 27th.

In related news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,500 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.79, for a total transaction of $1,228,425.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lauren B. Dillard sold 2,500 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $450,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,500 shares of company stock worth $1,759,245 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. BOKF NA purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the third quarter valued at approximately $5,309,000. Credit Suisse AG raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 3.8% during the third quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 457,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,379,000 after purchasing an additional 16,871 shares during the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,560,000. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 1.0% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,184,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,579,706,000 after purchasing an additional 78,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 5,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,210,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NDAQ opened at $154.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Nasdaq has a fifty-two week low of $153.34 and a fifty-two week high of $214.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $172.73 and its 200 day moving average is $187.29.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 20.31% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business had revenue of $892.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $892.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.99%.

About Nasdaq (Get Rating)

Nasdaq, Inc operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries worldwide. The Market Technology segment includes anti financial crime technology business, which offers Nasdaq Trade Surveillance, a SaaS solution for brokers and other market participants to assist them in complying with market rules, regulations, and internal market surveillance policies; Nasdaq Automated Investigator, a cloud-deployed anti-money laundering tool; and Verafin, a SaaS technology provider of anti-financial crime management solutions.

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