Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $68.54.

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Nasdaq from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $64.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Argus upped their target price on Nasdaq from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $72.08 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Nasdaq has a twelve month low of $46.88 and a twelve month high of $72.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.94, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.94.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 15.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 50.53%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total value of $2,764,295,688.06. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,804,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,764,295,688.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter valued at about $291,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 65.3% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 1,112 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 6.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 60,124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,624,000 after buying an additional 3,398 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 51,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,100,000 after buying an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its position in Nasdaq by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 783,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,184,000 after acquiring an additional 153,807 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

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.