Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $74.95 and last traded at $74.80, with a volume of 1054824 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.91.

The financial services provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 14.43%. The firm’s revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.71 EPS.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. 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 note on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nasdaq news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 42,804,207 shares in the company, valued at $2,764,295,688.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 28.4% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 283.8% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 1,154,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,880,000 after acquiring an additional 853,414 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 67.6% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,022,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $121,879,000 after acquiring an additional 815,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 196.5% in the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 670,024 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.7 %

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 firm has a market capitalization of $43.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $72.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.68.

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.