Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Downgraded by Morgan Stanley to Equal Weight

Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note published on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $74.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.88.

Nasdaq Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $70.30 on Tuesday. Nasdaq has a 12-month low of $58.10 and a 12-month high of $84.15. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.61, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total value of $47,179.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,450,783.80. This represents a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. This trade represents a 20.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,116 shares of company stock worth $1,434,818. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

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