Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?
by Scott Moore · The Cerbat GemShares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ – Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $101.31 and last traded at $101.4890, with a volume of 671670 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $100.33.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
NDAQ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 9th. Barclays set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $108.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $96.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.67.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Nasdaq
Nasdaq Stock Up 1.4%
The firm has a 50 day moving average of $93.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.01.
Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.06. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 19.90%.The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Nasdaq Dividend Announcement
The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.57%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq
In related news, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.01, for a total value of $450,045.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 125,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,568,656.74. The trade was a 3.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total transaction of $28,917,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,924,903 shares in the company, valued at $185,541,400.17. This represents a 13.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 306,605 shares of company stock valued at $29,546,812. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Trading of Nasdaq
Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Nasdaq by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 34,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,652,000 after purchasing an additional 10,110 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 14,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after buying an additional 2,584 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 345.5% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 463 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 101,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,035,000 after buying an additional 6,005 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Nasdaq Company Profile
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.