Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on NDAQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 price target (up from $101.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $111.00 price objective (up from $108.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.73.

Nasdaq Stock Up 2.2%

NDAQ stock opened at $95.96 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $53.64 billion, a PE ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $87.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.37. Nasdaq has a one year low of $76.55 and a one year high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 18.38% and a net margin of 22.60%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 4.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.96, for a total value of $1,034,499.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 216,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,296,393.56. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total value of $1,203,930.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 128,293 shares in the company, valued at $11,881,214.73. This represents a 9.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 30,787 shares of company stock valued at $2,865,505 over the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Trust Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 7.9% during the second quarter. Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 4,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. Whitener Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Tema ETFs LLC lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 8,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 738,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,179,000 after purchasing an additional 18,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Financial Group grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 32.6% during the second quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 3,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology company that operates one of the world’s leading electronic securities exchanges and provides a broad array of products and services to capital markets participants. Its core activities include operating the Nasdaq Stock Market and other trading venues, developing and supplying market technology and matching engines to exchanges and trading firms, licensing market data and indices, and offering clearing, trade execution and post-trade solutions. The company also provides market surveillance, risk management and regulatory technology used by exchanges and regulators.

Founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) as the first electronic stock market, Nasdaq has evolved into a diversified marketplace and technology provider.