Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Bank of America Analyst Says

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its target price upped by Bank of America from $103.00 to $105.00 in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

NDAQ has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.94.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Nasdaq stock opened at $78.30 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96. Nasdaq has a 1-year low of $58.10 and a 1-year high of $84.15. The company’s 50-day moving average is $78.93 and its 200 day moving average is $77.68.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. Research analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total value of $285,460.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,532,778.56. This trade represents a 5.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,398,253.92. This represents a 20.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 24.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 977,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $71,400,000 after acquiring an additional 191,705 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter valued at $557,000. Harmony Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter worth $203,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 8.9% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 58,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,302,000 after buying an additional 4,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 60.4% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 14,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after buying an additional 5,400 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.