Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Raised to “Buy” at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $73.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a buy rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com cut Nasdaq from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $63.70.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $63.10 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $58.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.74. The stock has a market cap of $36.33 billion, a PE ratio of 29.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Nasdaq has a one year low of $46.88 and a one year high of $63.52.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 19.28% and a net margin of 17.48%. Nasdaq’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total value of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,341,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,383,809,610. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RB Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 15.9% during the first quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 3,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 10.2% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 14.1% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $701,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 8.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 136,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,319,000 after buying an additional 10,623 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 32.0% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 316,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,373,000 after buying an additional 76,603 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.