Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target points to a potential upside of 21.21% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on NDAQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Nasdaq from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $53.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.87.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $72.60 on Friday. Nasdaq has a 12-month low of $46.88 and a 12-month high of $74.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $41.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s fifty day moving average is $70.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.07.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 15.45%. Nasdaq’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In related news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total transaction of $2,764,295,688.06. Following the sale, the insider now owns 42,804,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,764,295,688.06. The transaction 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 corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NDAQ. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,471,000. Verity & Verity LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter valued at about $418,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,018,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter valued at about $291,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in Nasdaq by 65.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.