Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eighteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $86.88.

NDAQ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, January 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.75, for a total transaction of $950,906.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,072,268.75. The trade was a 10.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total value of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,778.56. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 80,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,185,000 after purchasing an additional 21,000 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 75.7% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 53,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,170,000 after buying an additional 23,244 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth $856,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 49.8% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 164,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,987,000 after acquiring an additional 54,594 shares during the period. Finally, Cumberland Partners Ltd bought a new stake in Nasdaq during the third quarter valued at about $10,400,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $82.86 on Thursday. Nasdaq has a fifty-two week low of $54.90 and a fifty-two week high of $83.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.18. The stock has a market cap of $47.62 billion, a PE ratio of 43.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. Analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

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.