Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Price Target Cut to $74.00

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its target price cut by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $75.00 to $74.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 23.99% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on NDAQ. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Nasdaq from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley raised Nasdaq from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. UBS Group increased their target price on Nasdaq from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Nasdaq from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.92.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock traded down $0.61 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $59.68. 1,248,221 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,131,431. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Nasdaq has a 12-month low of $46.88 and a 12-month high of $64.25. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.39. The company has a market capitalization of $34.33 billion, a PE ratio of 28.25, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.93.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.02). Nasdaq had a net margin of 17.48% and a return on equity of 19.28%. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total value of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,341,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,383,809,610. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total transaction of $465,534.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,672 shares in the company, valued at $3,879,785.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total value of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 58,341,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,383,809,610. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in Nasdaq by 89.3% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 5.6% during the first quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 3,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 5.6% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Bollard Group LLC increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 71,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,144,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 1.1% during the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 26,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,649,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

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.