Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Now Covered by William Blair

William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in a research note published on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on NDAQ. Bank of America reduced their price target on Nasdaq from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.87.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $81.52 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.30. The stock has a market cap of $46.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.81, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.95. Nasdaq has a 52 week low of $53.62 and a 52 week high of $82.39.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 13.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 57.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total value of $1,027,515.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 142,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,757,955.60. This trade represents a 8.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.92, for a total value of $935,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 114,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,928,073.60. The trade was a 9.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,459 shares of company stock valued at $3,811,808 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 94.8% in the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 164.4% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.