Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Now Covered by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an equal weight rating and a $100.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $111.00 price objective (up from $108.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research cut Nasdaq from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $108.00 price target (up from $104.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, July 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.25.

Nasdaq Stock Down 1.5%

Nasdaq stock opened at $90.33 on Friday. Nasdaq has a fifty-two week low of $76.55 and a fifty-two week high of $101.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $95.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.09. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 18.38% and a net margin of 22.60%.The business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 4.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is 36.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $106,875.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 100,073 shares in the company, valued at $9,506,935. The trade was a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.35, for a total value of $1,060,813.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 205,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,751,846.35. The trade was a 5.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 44,047 shares of company stock worth $4,139,191 over the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CX Institutional boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 6.9% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 8,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Nasdaq by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,229,000 after buying an additional 2,788 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden increased its stake in Nasdaq by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 134,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,615,000 after buying an additional 4,090 shares during the period. Security National Bank of SO Dak acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Wellington Altus USA Inc. boosted its position in Nasdaq by 89.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Altus USA Inc. now owns 1,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 666 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 is a global financial technology, market infrastructure and exchange company headquartered in New York City. The company operates Nasdaq stock exchanges in the United States and provides trading, clearing, settlement, listing and market data services. Through its Nordic and Baltic operations, Nasdaq also serves financial markets across Northern Europe.

Nasdaq’s business includes exchange and market services, index development, investment intelligence, and technology solutions for exchanges, brokers, banks, asset managers and other financial institutions.