Nasdaq’s (NDAQ) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their outperform rating on shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $95.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on NDAQ. Barclays cut their price objective on Nasdaq from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.88.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $82.28 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.29 billion, a PE ratio of 42.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.98. Nasdaq has a 12 month low of $54.90 and a 12 month high of $83.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $79.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.56.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.91%. Analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 5,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $15,918,196.14. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,075 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 10.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,817 shares of company stock valued at $2,330,033 in the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Founders Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

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.