Raymond James Issues Positive Forecast for Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Stock Price

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its target price upped by Raymond James from $83.00 to $84.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Raymond James’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 10.70% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. William Blair started coverage on Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.60.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $75.88 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $43.61 billion, a PE ratio of 45.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $79.23 and a 200-day moving average of $72.60. Nasdaq has a 1-year low of $54.90 and a 1-year high of $83.77.

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

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 5,742 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total value of $444,086.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 205,821 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,918,196.14. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total value of $1,027,515.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 142,830 shares in the company, valued at $10,757,955.60. The trade was a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,459 shares of company stock worth $3,811,808. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 163.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,833,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,835,235,000 after purchasing an additional 24,084,154 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 13,532.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $292,040,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970,658 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,951,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,310,653,000 after buying an additional 1,811,616 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P increased its position in Nasdaq by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,596,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $627,596,000 after buying an additional 1,096,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Nasdaq by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,761,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $783,181,000 after buying an additional 932,665 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

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.