Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Stock Price

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by equities research analysts at Barclays from $84.00 to $101.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Barclays's price objective suggests a potential upside of 12.96% from the stock's current price.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on NDAQ. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Nasdaq from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $74.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group restated a "cautious" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer set a $96.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $90.69.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NDAQ traded down $1.32 during trading on Thursday, reaching $89.41. The stock had a trading volume of 2,433,101 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,083,024. The business has a 50-day moving average of $84.84 and a 200-day moving average of $79.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Nasdaq has a one year low of $62.21 and a one year high of $90.84. The stock has a market cap of $51.33 billion, a PE ratio of 40.64, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.01.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 11,508 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.87, for a total transaction of $1,022,715.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 111,035 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,867,680.45. This trade represents a 9.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.17, for a total transaction of $187,702.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 94,656 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,440,475.52. This represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,613 shares of company stock valued at $1,874,659. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CX Institutional increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 19.4% during the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,349 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 46.2% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. BDF Gestion increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 162.7% during the second quarter. BDF Gestion now owns 31,972 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,859,000 after acquiring an additional 19,803 shares in the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the second quarter valued at approximately $192,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 169.1% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 271,515 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $24,279,000 after acquiring an additional 170,604 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company's stock.

About Nasdaq

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.