Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Upgraded by Bank of America to Buy

Bank of America upgraded shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) from an underperform rating to a buy rating in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $90.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $53.00.

NDAQ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Argus lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered Nasdaq from a buy rating to a neutral rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $64.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $71.69.

Nasdaq Stock Down 2.0 %

Nasdaq stock opened at $71.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $41.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.87, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.45. Nasdaq has a 12 month low of $46.88 and a 12 month high of $74.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 14.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.53%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In related news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total transaction of $2,764,295,688.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,804,207 shares in the company, valued at $2,764,295,688.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 94.8% in the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 89.3% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 164.4% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently 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.