Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Receives $68.54 Average Target Price from Analysts

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $71.69.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NDAQ. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Nasdaq from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Nasdaq from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Nasdaq from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total value of $2,764,295,688.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,804,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,764,295,688.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thoma Bravo L.P. acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,166,454,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Nasdaq by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,239,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,043,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,173,981 shares in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 28.4% during the 1st quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,436,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $532,357,000 after buying an additional 1,866,219 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 2.0% in the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,767,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $287,270,000 after buying an additional 94,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $239,347,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $73.48 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.20. Nasdaq has a one year low of $46.88 and a one year high of $74.17. The firm has a market cap of $42.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

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

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 50.53%.

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.