Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Raised to Outperform at Raymond James

Raymond James upgraded shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Raymond James currently has $82.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on NDAQ. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.31.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Nasdaq stock opened at $73.76 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $42.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.95. 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 has a 1 year low of $47.56 and a 1 year high of $74.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $71.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.09.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.53%.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total value of $2,764,295,688.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,804,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,764,295,688.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Nasdaq by 7.0% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Nasdaq by 28.4% during the first quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,436,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $532,357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,219 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in Nasdaq by 283.8% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 1,154,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,880,000 after purchasing an additional 853,414 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Nasdaq by 67.6% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,022,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $121,879,000 after purchasing an additional 815,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in Nasdaq by 196.5% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,010,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,793,000 after purchasing an additional 670,024 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is 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.