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

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) was downgraded by investment analysts at Rosenblatt Securities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $64.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their prior price target of $76.00. Rosenblatt Securities’ price objective points to a potential upside of 5.09% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Edward Jones initiated coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.92.

Nasdaq Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $60.90 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Nasdaq has a 12-month low of $46.88 and a 12-month high of $64.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.05, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.05.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 15.98% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were 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 $3,879,785.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Nasdaq news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total transaction of $465,534.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,672 shares in the company, valued at $3,879,785.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 31,010,436 shares of company stock valued at $1,798,647,360. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Thoma Bravo L.P. purchased a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at $4,166,454,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 214.0% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,281,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $305,224,000 after purchasing an additional 4,280,846 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at $239,347,000. Bain Capital Public Equity Management II LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,241,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,065,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,620,131,000 after buying an additional 745,965 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.