Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the seventeen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $82.40.

NDAQ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, November 25th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded 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, October 14th.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 5,742 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total transaction of $444,086.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 205,821 shares in the company, valued at $15,918,196.14. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,075 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,072,268.75. This trade represents a 10.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 49,459 shares of company stock valued at $3,811,808. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 94.8% during the 2nd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 415 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Focused Wealth Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nasdaq Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ traded up $0.79 during trading on Friday, reaching $78.22. The stock had a trading volume of 2,686,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,749,083. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $44.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.84, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $79.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.29. Nasdaq has a fifty-two week low of $54.90 and a fifty-two week high of $83.77.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 13.67%. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. Nasdaq's revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid 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 1.23%. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.49%.

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.