Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $99.54 and last traded at $99.2710, with a volume of 132934 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $99.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $114.00 price target (up previously from $109.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.40.

Nasdaq Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $89.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.62 billion, a PE ratio of 35.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 19.90% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.57%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.40, for a total transaction of $179,767.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 84,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,256,779.60. This trade represents a 2.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 72.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology company that operates one of the world’s leading electronic securities exchanges and provides a broad array of products and services to capital markets participants. Its core activities include operating the Nasdaq Stock Market and other trading venues, developing and supplying market technology and matching engines to exchanges and trading firms, licensing market data and indices, and offering clearing, trade execution and post-trade solutions. The company also provides market surveillance, risk management and regulatory technology used by exchanges and regulators.

Founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) as the first electronic stock market, Nasdaq has evolved into a diversified marketplace and technology provider.