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

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on NDAQ. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Edward Jones initiated coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $75.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.92.

Nasdaq Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:NDAQ traded down $0.17 on Friday, reaching $60.12. The stock had a trading volume of 4,792,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,181,565. The company has a market cap of $34.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $59.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.46. Nasdaq has a 12-month low of $46.88 and a 12-month high of $64.25.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 17.48% and a return on equity of 19.28%. The company’s revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total transaction of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 58,341,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,383,809,610. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total transaction 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 $3,383,809,610. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total transaction of $465,534.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,879,785.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the third quarter worth $26,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 89.3% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 74.9% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.