Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Price Target Increased to $78.00 by Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its price objective increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

NDAQ has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Nasdaq from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $80.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Edward Jones began coverage on Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a buy rating for the company. StockNews.com lowered Nasdaq from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Barclays boosted their price target on Nasdaq from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut Nasdaq from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $68.25.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $66.96 on Friday. Nasdaq has a 12-month low of $46.88 and a 12-month high of $67.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $60.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 14.43%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.53%.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,036 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.89, for a total value of $181,826.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,511,710.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Thoma Bravo L.P. bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth about $4,166,454,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $239,347,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Nasdaq by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,239,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,043,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,173,981 shares in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 28.4% in the 1st quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,436,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $532,357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bain Capital Public Equity Management II LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,241,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.