Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Upgraded at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $98.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $80.00.

NDAQ has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. William Blair started coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Raymond James upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Argus raised their target price on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Nasdaq from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.60.

Nasdaq Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $75.88 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.44, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.98. Nasdaq has a 1-year low of $54.90 and a 1-year high of $83.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $79.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.60.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 2.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.75, for a total value of $950,906.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,072,268.75. The trade was a 10.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 5,742 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total value of $444,086.28. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 205,821 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,918,196.14. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 49,459 shares of company stock worth $3,811,808. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 1.0% in the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 13,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 9,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $759,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems increased its position in Nasdaq by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 28,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,105,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.