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

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

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.88.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Nasdaq stock opened at $82.28 on Thursday. Nasdaq has a twelve month low of $54.90 and a twelve month high of $83.77. The company has a market capitalization of $47.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.85, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $79.53 and its 200 day moving average is $74.56. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.91%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,072,268.75. The trade was a 10.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 owns 205,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,918,196.14. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,817 shares of company stock valued at $2,330,033. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Creative Planning lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 51,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,100,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Nasdaq by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 60,124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,624,000 after purchasing an additional 3,398 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 65.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter worth about $291,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,018,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.