Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) PT Set at $96.00 by Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer set a $96.00 price objective on Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) in a research note released on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on NDAQ. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen raised Nasdaq from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 18th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Nasdaq from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $91.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.19.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NDAQ traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $86.10. 4,458,965 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,007,602. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $49.43 billion, a PE ratio of 39.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.00. Nasdaq has a 52-week low of $58.76 and a 52-week high of $87.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $80.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.73.

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

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total transaction of $47,179.17. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 61,980 shares in the company, valued at $4,450,783.80. This represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 8,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.03, for a total value of $664,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 211,405 shares in the company, valued at $17,552,957.15. This 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth about $424,285,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 1st quarter worth approximately $241,614,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 37.9% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,005,047 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $464,676,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,201 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted 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, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $110,867,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.