Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.88.

Nasdaq Stock Down 4.2 %

Shares of Nasdaq stock traded down $3.03 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $68.96. The stock had a trading volume of 1,578,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,824,964. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $39.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.02. Nasdaq has a 52 week low of $58.10 and a 52 week high of $84.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $77.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.45.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. Sell-side analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.00%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total value of $47,179.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,450,783.80. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at $4,398,253.92. This trade represents a 20.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,116 shares of company stock valued at $1,434,818 over the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $424,285,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Nasdaq by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,005,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $464,676,000 after buying an additional 1,650,201 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth $110,867,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth $105,481,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,379,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $802,401,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,672 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Nasdaq

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.