Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Royal Bank Of Canada Analyst Says

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada has raised its price target for Nasdaq from $95.00 to $108.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.79% from the current stock price.
• Other analysts, including Barclays and Bank of America, have also increased their price targets for Nasdaq, indicating a strong positive sentiment towards the stock.
• Nasdaq reported a 12.7% year-over-year revenue increase and beat earnings expectations by reporting an EPS of $0.85 for its latest quarter.
• Institutional investors hold approximately 72.47% of Nasdaq's stock, reflecting significant confidence from larger investment firms.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) had its target price hoisted by Royal Bank Of Canada from $95.00 to $108.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $97.00 price target (up previously from $83.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group upgraded Nasdaq from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $115.00 in a report on Friday. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $96.63.

Nasdaq Trading Up 1.4%

NDAQ traded up $1.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $94.84. The stock had a trading volume of 5,276,392 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,258,497. Nasdaq has a 52 week low of $64.33 and a 52 week high of $95.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $86.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.62.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 18.59%. The firm's revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Nasdaq's payout ratio is currently 49.09%.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.03, for a total transaction of $664,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 211,405 shares in the company, valued at $17,552,957.15. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.17, for a total transaction of $187,702.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 94,656 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,440,475.52. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,613 shares of company stock worth $1,874,659 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 43,161 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,274,000 after acquiring an additional 3,096 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas raised its position in Nasdaq by 61.1% in the 1st quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 17,842 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,353,000 after purchasing an additional 6,764 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Nasdaq by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,268,620 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $172,098,000 after purchasing an additional 27,622 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth $48,749,000. Finally, FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the 1st quarter worth $222,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.