Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on NDAQ. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $111.00 target price (up from $108.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $105.00 target price (up from $101.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.73.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NDAQ opened at $95.96 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $53.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. Nasdaq has a 52-week low of $76.55 and a 52-week high of $101.79. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.37.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 22.60% and a return on equity of 18.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total value of $1,203,930.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 128,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,881,214.73. This trade represents a 9.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.96, for a total transaction of $1,034,499.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 216,011 shares in the company, valued at $20,296,393.56. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 30,787 shares of company stock valued at $2,865,505. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NDAQ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,916,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,819,727,000 after buying an additional 268,481 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,627,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,683,485,000 after acquiring an additional 1,258,964 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,878,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,930,808,000 after acquiring an additional 259,408 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,851,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,243,807,000 after acquiring an additional 378,577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 62.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,266,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $900,061,000 after acquiring an additional 3,567,843 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Company Profile

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.