Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $88.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $76.73.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.3 %

NDAQ opened at $71.62 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $41.25 billion, a PE ratio of 41.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Nasdaq has a 52 week low of $47.56 and a 52 week high of $74.88. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.86.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 14.43%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 55.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total transaction of $2,764,295,688.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,804,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,764,295,688.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 94.8% during the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 89.3% during the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 164.4% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently 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.