Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $81.53.
Several analysts have commented on NDAQ shares. Barclays raised 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on Nasdaq from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Nasdaq
NDAQ opened at $80.43 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.23 billion, a PE ratio of 48.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.97. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $77.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.84. Nasdaq has a 52-week low of $53.87 and a 52-week high of $83.77.
Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Nasdaq's payout ratio is 57.49%.
In related news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total transaction of $1,027,515.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 142,830 shares in the company, valued at $10,757,955.60. This represents a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 5,742 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total transaction of $444,086.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 205,821 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,918,196.14. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,459 shares of company stock valued at $3,811,808 over the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,975 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 1.0% during the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 13,842 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,011,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its position in Nasdaq by 4.2% in the third quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,670 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 28,828 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,105,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company's stock.
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.
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