Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on NDAQ. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a buy rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on Nasdaq from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Nasdaq from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Nasdaq from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $73.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Nasdaq from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $63.70.

Nasdaq Stock Up 1.2 %

NDAQ stock opened at $63.00 on Wednesday. Nasdaq has a twelve month low of $46.88 and a twelve month high of $63.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $58.02 and its 200-day moving average is $54.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.27 billion, a PE ratio of 29.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.92.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 19.28% and a net margin of 17.48%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total value of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 58,341,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,383,809,610. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 1,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 1,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Brinker Capital Investments LLC increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC now owns 29,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,247,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,273,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 1,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

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.