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

Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $97.3125.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $95.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $101.00 target price (up previously from $96.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, July 25th.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NDAQ opened at $88.17 on Tuesday. Nasdaq has a 12-month low of $64.84 and a 12-month high of $97.63. The stock has a market cap of $50.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.91, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50 day moving average of $93.17 and a 200-day moving average of $85.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 15.90%. Nasdaq’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 41.54%.

Insider Activity

In other Nasdaq news, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 8,691 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.45, for a total value of $812,173.95. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $829,742.55. This trade represents a 49.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.49, for a total transaction of $201,006.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 92,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,837,694.99. This represents a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,274,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,438,897,000 after buying an additional 6,840,735 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $406,823,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $241,614,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,800,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,989,636,000 after purchasing an additional 2,820,339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 261.7% during the 2nd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 2,690,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $240,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,946,479 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.