Brokerages Set Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Target Price at $86.88

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $86.88.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays dropped their target price on Nasdaq from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NDAQ stock opened at $76.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $43.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.77, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.53. Nasdaq has a twelve month low of $58.10 and a twelve month high of $84.15.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,778.56. This trade represents a 5.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at $4,398,253.92. This trade represents a 20.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,576,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,064,682,000 after buying an additional 376,893 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 163.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,833,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,835,235,000 after acquiring an additional 24,084,154 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 11.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,951,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,310,653,000 after acquiring an additional 1,811,616 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Nasdaq by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,018,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $849,783,000 after purchasing an additional 257,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Nasdaq by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,379,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $802,401,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,672 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.