Analysts Set Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Price Target at $101.33

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $101.40.

NDAQ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective (up previously from $99.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $114.00 price target (up from $109.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, December 12th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.40, for a total transaction of $179,767.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 84,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,256,779.60. The trade was a 2.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NDAQ. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 1st quarter worth about $285,000. Candriam S.C.A. grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 7.2% in the first quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 63,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,818,000 after purchasing an additional 4,290 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 0.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 594,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,073,000 after purchasing an additional 5,114 shares in the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 183.9% during the first quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 21,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,608,000 after purchasing an additional 13,727 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norinchukin Bank The lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 15.4% during the first quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 21,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 2,879 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nasdaq Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $98.63 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $56.31 billion, a PE ratio of 35.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.02. Nasdaq has a 12-month low of $64.84 and a 12-month high of $98.80. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.66.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 19.90%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is 38.57%.

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.