Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Stock

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its price objective increased by equities research analysts at Barclays from $115.00 to $116.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 37.75% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $92.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 target price on Nasdaq and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $108.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.08.

Nasdaq Trading Down 4.4%

Nasdaq stock opened at $84.21 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $85.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.65. Nasdaq has a 52 week low of $68.00 and a 52 week high of $101.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 21.77% and a return on equity of 16.90%. The company’s revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In related news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total transaction of $9,706,923.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,965,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $167,953,765.44. This trade represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 506,451 shares of company stock worth $47,142,951 over the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth approximately $530,100,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Nasdaq by 62.6% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC increased 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 last quarter. Finally, Harris Associates L P increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 46.0% during the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,621,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $837,425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,716,280 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.