Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Stock

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its target price raised by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $92.00 to $102.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target indicates a potential upside of 10.76% from the company’s previous close.

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $113.00 price target (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $111.00 target price (up from $108.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.73.

Nasdaq Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $92.09 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. Nasdaq has a twelve month low of $76.55 and a twelve month high of $101.79. The company has a market capitalization of $52.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.99.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 18.38% and a net margin of 22.60%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total transaction of $700,222.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 141,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,808,798.70. The trade was a 5.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ab Investor bought 56,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $85.98 per share, with a total value of $4,882,116.36. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 58,439,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,024,603,103.84. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac bought a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Nasdaq

Here are the key news stories impacting Nasdaq this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Nasdaq delivered a solid Q2 beat on both earnings and revenue, with strong growth in index and FinTech driving better-than-expected results and record Market Services performance. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, which may appeal to income-focused investors and signals continued shareholder returns. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted its price target to $102, indicating improved valuation expectations even though the rating remained market perform. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Nasdaq’s July short-interest report showed 0 shares short and a 0.0-day days-to-cover figure, which appears more like a data anomaly than a meaningful trading signal. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also ended its Miami case and sold its fund secondaries business, a portfolio move that may be viewed as strategic housekeeping rather than a major earnings driver. Article Title

About Nasdaq

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.