Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

NDAQ has been the subject of several other reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Nasdaq from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $73.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $63.70.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NDAQ stock opened at $63.10 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $36.33 billion, a PE ratio of 29.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.92. Nasdaq has a 12-month low of $46.88 and a 12-month high of $63.52. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $58.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.82.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 19.28% and a net margin of 17.48%. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. Nasdaq’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.71%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 58,341,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,383,809,610. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. RB Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Nasdaq by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 3,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Nasdaq by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in Nasdaq by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $701,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Nasdaq by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 136,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,319,000 after purchasing an additional 10,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Nasdaq by 32.0% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 316,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,373,000 after purchasing an additional 76,603 shares in 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.