Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group increased their price target on Nasdaq from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.53.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NDAQ opened at $80.12 on Friday. Nasdaq has a 52-week low of $54.54 and a 52-week high of $83.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.12. The company has a market capitalization of $46.05 billion, a PE ratio of 47.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.97.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 14.56%. Nasdaq’s quarterly revenue was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total value of $1,027,515.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 142,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,757,955.60. This represents a 8.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,075 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.75, for a total transaction of $950,906.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,072,268.75. This trade represents a 10.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,459 shares of company stock valued at $3,811,808 in the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 163.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,833,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,835,235,000 after acquiring an additional 24,084,154 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 11.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,951,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,310,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811,616 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Nasdaq by 9.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,761,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $783,181,000 after purchasing an additional 932,665 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 14.6% during the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,596,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $627,596,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,767,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $287,270,000 after buying an additional 94,122 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.