Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Upgraded to Buy at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) from an underperform rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $90.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $53.00.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Nasdaq from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Nasdaq from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $71.69.

Nasdaq Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $73.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.67, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.94. Nasdaq has a 1 year low of $46.88 and a 1 year high of $74.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 15.45%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. Nasdaq’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total transaction 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 349,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,325,000 after purchasing an additional 65,507 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Nasdaq by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 31,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,835,000 after buying an additional 6,575 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 7,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $417,000 after buying an additional 2,683 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 286.9% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after buying an additional 13,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,827,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $106,236,000 after acquiring an additional 60,770 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.