Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Price Target Raised to $84.00 at Oppenheimer

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its price target increased by Oppenheimer from $80.00 to $84.00 in a research note released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Nasdaq from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen started coverage on Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a hold rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Raymond James raised Nasdaq from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $82.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. UBS Group increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $77.31.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $72.57 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.96. Nasdaq has a 52-week low of $47.56 and a 52-week high of $74.88. 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 stock has a market cap of $41.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.19, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.95.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 14.43%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. Nasdaq’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 50.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,804,207 shares in the company, valued at $2,764,295,688.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Smithfield Trust Co grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 22.0% during the first quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 11,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $715,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 3,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 32,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,967,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 89.3% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

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.