Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Sell

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Nasdaq from "hold" to "sell", marking a notable bearish signal even as many other firms maintain positive ratings.
• Nasdaq beat Q1 expectations—reporting $0.96 EPS vs. $0.93 and stronger-than-expected revenue—and the board raised the quarterly dividend to $0.31 (≈14.8% increase).
• Analyst and ownership picture is mixed: MarketBeat shows a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $107.15 price target, heavy institutional ownership (~72%), but significant insider selling (including the CEO) that could temper near-term upside.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $109.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $120.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.15.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NDAQ stock opened at $89.90 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $85.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.61. The stock has a market cap of $51.10 billion, a PE ratio of 27.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Nasdaq has a 1 year low of $74.11 and a 1 year high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The company's revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.91, for a total transaction of $29,073,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,924,903 shares in the company, valued at $186,542,349.73. This represents a 13.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 506,451 shares of company stock worth $47,142,951. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at about $530,100,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,648,406 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,275,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,848,406 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 62.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,266,562 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $900,061,000 after purchasing an additional 3,567,843 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 82.0% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 6,073,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $589,897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,736,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harris Associates L P lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 46.0% in the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,621,689 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $837,425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,716,280 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Nasdaq

Here are the key news stories impacting Nasdaq this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations — Nasdaq reported EPS of $0.96 vs. $0.93 expected and stronger-than-expected revenue (double-digit net revenue growth across divisions). This is the primary positive catalyst supporting the stock’s rise. Nasdaq Q1 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend hike — the board raised the quarterly dividend to $0.31 (≈14.8% increase), indicating cash return commitment and supporting income-oriented investor interest. Dividend Announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Business mix and growth drivers — management highlighted AI and cloud-driven growth in Solutions and FinTech segments, providing conviction that revenue acceleration is sustainable beyond the quarter. AI & Cloud Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst action — Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its price target to $97 (market perform), a modest supportive signal from the sell-side that implies upside from current levels. KBW Target Raise
• Neutral Sentiment: Mid-month short-interest data — Nasdaq published mid-April short interest across Nasdaq Global Market securities; overall days-to-cover ticked slightly lower to ~2.71 days. This is market-structure data rather than a direct stock-specific catalyst for NDAQ. Mid-Month Short Interest
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst landscape is mixed but skewed positive — several firms maintain overweight/positive views and the median 6‑month target remains above the current price, which supports medium-term upside but isn’t an immediate catalyst. Analyst Targets & Ratings
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — disclosure shows significant insider sales in the past six months (including a large sale by CEO Adena Friedman), which can be perceived negatively by some investors even if sales have benign explanations. This could cap some near-term upside. Insider Activity
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed institutional moves — large reallocations (e.g., UBS materially cut its position while others added) increase volatility risk; big fund flows can amplify moves if followed by further rebalancing. Institutional Activity

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.

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