Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the seventeen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $87.19.

NDAQ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Nasdaq from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered Nasdaq from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $74.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Nasdaq from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $91.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Oppenheimer set a $96.00 price objective on Nasdaq and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "cautious" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $89.08 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $51.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Nasdaq has a 1-year low of $59.46 and a 1-year high of $89.48. The stock's 50-day moving average is $81.87 and its 200 day moving average is $79.00.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 16.36%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. Nasdaq's revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This is a positive change from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Nasdaq's payout ratio is currently 49.09%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total value of $47,179.17. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,980 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,450,783.80. The trade was a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.03, for a total value of $664,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 211,405 shares in the company, valued at $17,552,957.15. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth $424,285,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the first quarter valued at $241,614,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Nasdaq by 37.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,005,047 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $464,676,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,201 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Nasdaq by 40.8% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,494,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $416,795,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at $105,481,000. Hedge funds and other 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.

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