Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Raises Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Price Target to $91.00

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $86.00 to $91.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price objective would suggest a potential upside of 17.12% from the company's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also commented on NDAQ. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Argus upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Nasdaq from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, William Blair started coverage on Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.40.

Nasdaq Trading Up 0.4 %

Nasdaq stock traded up $0.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $77.70. The company had a trading volume of 7,114,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,865,127. The stock has a market cap of $44.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Nasdaq has a 1-year low of $54.90 and a 1-year high of $83.77. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $78.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.65.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 142,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,757,955.60. This represents a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 5,742 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total value of $444,086.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 205,821 shares in the company, valued at $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 ninety days, insiders 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

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter valued at $60,099,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 8.0% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 90,640 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,618,000 after acquiring an additional 6,704 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 38.6% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 60,535 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,420,000 after acquiring an additional 16,868 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Nasdaq during the third quarter worth about $1,266,000. Finally, Sfmg LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq during the third quarter worth about $207,000. Hedge funds and other 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.