Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Price Target Increased to $93.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $92.00 to $93.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on NDAQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.47.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NDAQ opened at $74.69 on Friday. Nasdaq has a 12 month low of $47.56 and a 12 month high of $75.68. The stock has a market cap of $43.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $72.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 14.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 55.17%.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In related news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total transaction of $2,764,295,688.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,804,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,764,295,688.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 94.8% during the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 164.4% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq during the third quarter worth $33,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.