Analysts Set Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) PT at $79.07

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $79.07.

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Nasdaq from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

Nasdaq Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $75.24 on Tuesday. Nasdaq has a 52-week low of $47.56 and a 52-week high of $75.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $43.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.60.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 14.43%. The firm 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 company earned $0.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 50.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 42,804,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,764,295,688.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,239,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,043,936,000 after acquiring an additional 3,173,981 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $532,357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,219 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $72,880,000 after purchasing an additional 853,414 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 stake in shares of Nasdaq by 196.5% in the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,010,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,793,000 after buying an additional 670,024 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

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.