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

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

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on NDAQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Raymond James raised shares of Nasdaq from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America reduced 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. Argus increased their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.33.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NDAQ traded up $0.51 during trading on Friday, reaching $78.69. 2,247,205 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,658,679. Nasdaq has a 12-month low of $51.30 and a 12-month high of $79.73. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.71. 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 company has a market cap of $45.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.12, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.95.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 14.56%. Nasdaq’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 2.78 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.49%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was 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 directly owns 142,830 shares in the company, valued at $10,757,955.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 5,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 205,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,918,196.14. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of Nasdaq 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 directly owns 142,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,757,955.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 37,384 shares of company stock worth $2,860,902. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 94.8% during the 2nd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 164.4% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. 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.