Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02, Zacks reports. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.91%.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $82.37. 259,868 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,720,675. Nasdaq has a 12 month low of $54.90 and a 12 month high of $83.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $79.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.35 billion, a PE ratio of 43.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Nasdaq from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James boosted their price target on Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Nasdaq from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,075 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.75, for a total value of $950,906.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,072,268.75. This represents a 10.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 5,742 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total transaction of $444,086.28. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 205,821 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,918,196.14. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,817 shares of company stock valued at $2,330,033. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.