Brokerages Set Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Price Target at $103.80

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) has earned an average rating of “Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $103.7143.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on NDAQ shares. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price target on Nasdaq and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 9th. TD Cowen raised Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $106.00 in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, January 12th.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $86.65 on Tuesday. Nasdaq has a twelve month low of $64.84 and a twelve month high of $101.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Nasdaq had a net margin of 21.77% and a return on equity of 16.90%. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.91, for a total transaction of $29,073,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,924,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $186,542,349.73. This represents a 13.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 125,674 shares in the company, valued at $12,568,656.74. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 510,951 shares of company stock worth $47,592,996. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Front Row Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.