Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Nasdaq from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.33.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of Nasdaq stock traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $78.69. 2,246,974 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,658,679. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $45.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.12, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.95. Nasdaq has a 52 week low of $51.30 and a 52 week high of $79.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.59.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 13.67%. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. Nasdaq’s revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 2.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 5,742 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total transaction of $444,086.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 205,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,918,196.14. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Nasdaq news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.92, for a total transaction of $935,040.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 114,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,928,073.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 5,742 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total value 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,384 shares of company stock valued at $2,860,902 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 312.0% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 183,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,601,000 after acquiring an additional 139,228 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 237.3% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 30,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,946,000 after purchasing an additional 21,699 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 12.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 517,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,624,000 after purchasing an additional 57,900 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the first quarter valued at about $2,595,000. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 55.8% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 27,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 9,894 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by 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.