Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Upgraded to "Buy" at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) from an underperform rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Bank of America currently has $90.00 target price on the financial services provider's stock, up from their previous target price of $53.00.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Argus raised their price target on Nasdaq from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $71.69.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of Nasdaq stock traded up $2.09 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $73.48. The company had a trading volume of 3,295,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,925,717. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.20. Nasdaq has a 1-year low of $46.88 and a 1-year high of $74.17. The company has a market capitalization of $42.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.94.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.13 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 14.43%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Nasdaq's payout ratio is presently 50.53%.

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 transaction, the insider now owns 42,804,207 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,764,295,688.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NDAQ. Thoma Bravo L.P. bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,166,454,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 raised its stake in Nasdaq by 28.4% in the first quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,436,719 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $532,357,000 after buying an additional 1,866,219 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 2.0% in the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,767,175 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $287,270,000 after buying an additional 94,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $239,347,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by 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.