Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Price Target Raised to $97.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its target price increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $85.00 to $97.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on NDAQ. Oppenheimer set a $96.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Nasdaq from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $74.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “cautious” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.06.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $89.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $51.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $82.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.20. Nasdaq has a 52-week low of $59.95 and a 52-week high of $89.64.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.03, for a total value of $664,240.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 211,405 shares in the company, valued at $17,552,957.15. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total value of $47,179.17. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 61,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,450,783.80. This represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,979,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,019,037,000 after buying an additional 403,248 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,433,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,550,115,000 after purchasing an additional 993,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,018,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $849,783,000 after purchasing an additional 257,465 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 1,225,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harris Associates L P lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 1.2% during the first quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,693,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $659,487,000 after purchasing an additional 101,983 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.