Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on NDAQ. UBS Group increased their target price on Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. William Blair began coverage on Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.88.

Nasdaq Stock Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $75.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $43.45 billion, a PE ratio of 39.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96. Nasdaq has a fifty-two week low of $58.10 and a fifty-two week high of $84.15. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $79.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,576,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,064,682,000 after purchasing an additional 376,893 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 163.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,833,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,835,235,000 after purchasing an additional 24,084,154 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,951,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,310,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811,616 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Nasdaq by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,018,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $849,783,000 after acquiring an additional 257,465 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Nasdaq by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,379,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $802,401,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,672 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.