Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Rating Reiterated by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $88.00 price target on the financial services provider's stock.

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Nasdaq from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a "hold" rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Nasdaq from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.47.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ traded down $0.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $74.69. The stock had a trading volume of 2,230,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,896,922. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $43.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.93, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.95. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $72.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.60. Nasdaq has a one year low of $47.56 and a one year high of $75.68.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 14.43%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.17%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq 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 directly owns 42,804,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,764,295,688.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NDAQ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 7.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,239,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,043,936,000 after buying an additional 3,173,981 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Nasdaq by 28.4% during the first quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,436,719 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $532,357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,219 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in Nasdaq by 283.8% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 1,154,143 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $72,880,000 after purchasing an additional 853,414 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 67.6% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,022,546 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $121,879,000 after purchasing an additional 815,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 196.5% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,010,992 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $63,793,000 after buying an additional 670,024 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.