Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Price Target Lowered to $73.00 at Barclays

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its price objective trimmed by Barclays from $76.00 to $73.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

NDAQ has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com raised Nasdaq from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Nasdaq from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and raised their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Edward Jones initiated coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued a buy rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $66.92.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $60.12 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $34.58 billion, a PE ratio of 31.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.93. Nasdaq has a 52 week low of $46.88 and a 52 week high of $64.25.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.02). Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 15.98%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.32%.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total transaction of $465,534.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,879,785.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Nasdaq news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total transaction of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,341,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,383,809,610. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total transaction of $465,534.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,672 shares in the company, valued at $3,879,785.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Czech National Bank lifted its position in Nasdaq by 47.8% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 59,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,879,000 after purchasing an additional 19,165 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 9.9% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 153,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,482,000 after buying an additional 13,899 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 10.3% during the third quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 25,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 2,403 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in Nasdaq by 14.6% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 79,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,861,000 after acquiring an additional 10,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 2.4% in the third quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 44,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,210,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.