Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Lowered to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Nasdaq from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.88.

Nasdaq Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $75.55 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. Nasdaq has a twelve month low of $58.10 and a twelve month high of $84.15. The company has a market capitalization of $43.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.35, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. As a group, research analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,778.56. The trade was a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total value of $1,102,179.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. The trade was a 20.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 80,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,185,000 after acquiring an additional 21,000 shares during the last quarter. NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth $274,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 75.7% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 53,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,170,000 after acquiring an additional 23,244 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 44,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,454,000 after purchasing an additional 9,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $856,000. Institutional investors 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.