Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) have earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $110.30.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NDAQ. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, July 20th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $113.00 price objective (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research upgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $111.00 target price (up from $108.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, July 24th.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $98.71 on Friday. 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 has a market capitalization of $55.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.97. Nasdaq has a one year low of $76.55 and a one year high of $101.79. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $92.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.90.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.09. Nasdaq had a net margin of 22.60% and a return on equity of 18.38%. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. Nasdaq’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 4.15 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.35, for a total value of $1,060,813.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 205,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,751,846.35. This trade represents a 5.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Ab Investor bought 56,782 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $85.98 per share, for a total transaction of $4,882,116.36. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 58,439,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,024,603,103.84. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,797 shares of company stock valued at $3,926,319. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,855,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $277,329,000 after buying an additional 45,783 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 61,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,933,000 after acquiring an additional 13,160 shares during the last quarter. MKP Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,996,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,245,000. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,872,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Company Profile

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.