Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Upgraded at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $110.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $97.00.

NDAQ has been the subject of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target (up previously from $99.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, October 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Nasdaq from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.00.

Nasdaq Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $87.66 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $50.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.31, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.98. Nasdaq has a 1-year low of $64.84 and a 1-year high of $97.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a 50 day moving average of $88.14 and a 200-day moving average of $88.98.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 19.90%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 38.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.40, for a total transaction of $179,767.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 84,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,256,779.60. This trade represents a 2.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NDAQ. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 72.7% in the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Front Row Advisors LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. 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.