Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Rating Lowered to Neutral at Rosenblatt Securities

Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Rosenblatt Securities currently has $64.00 price target on the financial services provider's stock, down from their previous price target of $76.00.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nasdaq from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Nasdaq from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Edward Jones started coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a buy rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $65.92.

Nasdaq Trading Down 1.6 %

NDAQ traded down $0.99 on Wednesday, reaching $59.91. 2,585,321 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,171,051. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $34.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.05. Nasdaq has a one year low of $46.88 and a one year high of $64.25.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.02). Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 15.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This is a positive change from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Nasdaq's payout ratio is presently 50.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total value of $465,534.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 61,672 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,879,785.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total transaction of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 58,341,545 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,383,809,610. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total transaction of $465,534.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,672 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,879,785.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 31,010,436 shares of company stock valued at $1,798,647,360. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the third quarter worth $26,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 89.3% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 426 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 74.9% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 815 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.