Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $95.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price suggests a potential upside of 25.20% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.60.

Nasdaq Trading Down 2.7 %

NDAQ opened at $75.88 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Nasdaq has a 52 week low of $54.90 and a 52 week high of $83.77. The business’s 50 day moving average is $79.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.60. The firm has a market cap of $43.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.98.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 5,742 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total value of $444,086.28. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total transaction of $1,027,515.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 142,830 shares in the company, valued at $10,757,955.60. This represents a 8.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,459 shares of company stock valued at $3,811,808. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 1.5% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,502,000 after buying an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 1,022.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 409,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,743,000 after acquiring an additional 373,376 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,169,000 after acquiring an additional 1,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter valued at $60,099,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.