Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $103.80.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NDAQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. TD Cowen raised Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $105.00 to $106.00 in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Argus upgraded Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price target (up from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 30th.

Insider Activity

In other Nasdaq news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total value of $28,917,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,924,903 shares in the company, valued at $185,541,400.17. This represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.01, for a total transaction of $450,045.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 125,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,568,656.74. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 604,500 shares of company stock worth $58,440,045 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Nasdaq by 33.5% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,274,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,438,897,000 after buying an additional 6,840,735 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at $530,100,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 6.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,648,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,275,902,000 after acquiring an additional 3,848,406 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 62.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,266,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $900,061,000 after acquiring an additional 3,567,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 82.0% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 6,073,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $589,897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,736,322 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nasdaq Stock Down 1.0%

NDAQ stock opened at $88.27 on Friday. Nasdaq has a 1-year low of $64.84 and a 1-year high of $101.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $92.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.03.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 16.90% and a net margin of 21.77%.The company had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. Nasdaq’s revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.95%.

Nasdaq Company Profile

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology company that operates one of the world’s leading electronic securities exchanges and provides a broad array of products and services to capital markets participants. Its core activities include operating the Nasdaq Stock Market and other trading venues, developing and supplying market technology and matching engines to exchanges and trading firms, licensing market data and indices, and offering clearing, trade execution and post-trade solutions. The company also provides market surveillance, risk management and regulatory technology used by exchanges and regulators.

Founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) as the first electronic stock market, Nasdaq has evolved into a diversified marketplace and technology provider.