Brokerages Set Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Target Price at $81.53

Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $81.53.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Activity

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.75, for a total value of $950,906.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,505 shares in the company, valued at $8,072,268.75. This represents a 10.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.71, for a total transaction of $454,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 215,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,320,274.73. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 49,459 shares of company stock worth $3,811,808. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 94.8% in the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 last quarter. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the third quarter valued at $33,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $80.12 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Nasdaq has a fifty-two week low of $54.54 and a fifty-two week high of $83.77. The business has a fifty day moving average of $77.59 and a 200-day moving average of $70.26. The stock has a market cap of $46.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.97.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.49%.

Nasdaq Company Profile

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.