Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.87.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NASDAQ NDAQ traded up $0.38 on Tuesday, hitting $80.16. 1,865,291 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,876,373. Nasdaq has a 52 week low of $53.36 and a 52 week high of $80.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $74.62 and a 200-day moving average of $67.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $46.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.95.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 13.67%. Nasdaq’s revenue was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 2.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.92, for a total value of $935,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 114,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,928,073.60. This trade represents a 9.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total transaction of $1,027,515.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 142,830 shares in the company, valued at $10,757,955.60. This trade represents a 8.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 37,384 shares of company stock valued at $2,860,902 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 163.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,833,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,835,235,000 after acquiring an additional 24,084,154 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,951,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,310,653,000 after buying an additional 1,811,616 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,761,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $783,181,000 after buying an additional 932,665 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 14.6% in the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,596,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $627,596,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 28.4% in the first quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,436,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $532,357,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866,219 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by 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.