StockNews.com Downgrades Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) to Sell

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Monday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on NDAQ. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, October 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 19th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $50.00 to $49.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, October 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.09.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ traded up $0.66 on Monday, reaching $54.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,414,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,783,403. Nasdaq has a 52-week low of $46.88 and a 52-week high of $69.22. The company has a market cap of $31.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 18.40% and a return on equity of 21.62%. The business had revenue of $940.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $931.14 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 2.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Nasdaq news, Director Johan Torgeby purchased 14,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $50.42 per share, for a total transaction of $705,880.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 22,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,132,735.72. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Nasdaq by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,147,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,502,849,000 after purchasing an additional 3,276,599 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Nasdaq by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,431,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $719,419,000 after purchasing an additional 321,354 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Nasdaq by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,756,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,273,164,000 after purchasing an additional 126,348 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Nasdaq by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,920,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $393,881,000 after purchasing an additional 184,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Nasdaq by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,477,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $322,910,000 after purchasing an additional 409,980 shares during the last quarter. 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: Market Platforms, Capital Access Platforms, and Anti-Financial Crime. The Market Platforms segment trading services, including equity derivative trading and clearing, cash equity trading, fixed income and commodities trading and clearing, and trade management service businesses.