Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.87.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NDAQ stock opened at $82.99 on Wednesday. Nasdaq has a 52 week low of $53.62 and a 52 week high of $83.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.66. 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 (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 13.67%. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total value of $1,027,515.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 142,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,757,955.60. The trade was a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 5,742 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total value of $444,086.28. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 205,821 shares in the company, valued at $15,918,196.14. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,459 shares of company stock valued at $3,811,808 over the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the second quarter worth $26,000. Claro Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.