Analysts Set Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Target Price at $103.80

Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) have been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $103.7143.

NDAQ has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price target on Nasdaq and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price target (up from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $109.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, February 25th.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NDAQ opened at $87.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $49.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.02. Nasdaq has a 12-month low of $64.84 and a 12-month high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 16.90% and a net margin of 21.77%.The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.91, for a total transaction of $29,073,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,924,903 shares in the company, valued at $186,542,349.73. This trade represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 506,451 shares of company stock worth $47,142,951 in the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,935 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $149,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Orgel Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Orgel Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology company that operates one of the world’s leading electronic securities exchanges and provides a broad array of products and services to capital markets participants. Its core activities include operating the Nasdaq Stock Market and other trading venues, developing and supplying market technology and matching engines to exchanges and trading firms, licensing market data and indices, and offering clearing, trade execution and post-trade solutions. The company also provides market surveillance, risk management and regulatory technology used by exchanges and regulators.

Founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) as the first electronic stock market, Nasdaq has evolved into a diversified marketplace and technology provider.