Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $86.88.

NDAQ has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. This represents a 20.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total value of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,778.56. This trade represents a 5.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Founders Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 106.6% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Nasdaq stock opened at $77.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $44.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.54. Nasdaq has a 1 year low of $58.10 and a 1 year high of $84.15.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

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.