Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Rating Lowered to Sell at Wall Street Zen

27 Apr 2026, 02:40 by Amy Steele · The Cerbat Gem

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ – Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price target on Nasdaq and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Argus raised Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.15.

View Our Latest Stock Report on NDAQ

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Nasdaq stock opened at $89.90 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $85.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.61. Nasdaq has a 52 week low of $74.11 and a 52 week high of $101.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. Nasdaq had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In related news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.91, for a total transaction of $29,073,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,924,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,542,349.73. This trade represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 506,451 shares of company stock valued at $47,142,951 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 34,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,652,000 after buying an additional 10,110 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 22.0% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 14,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 2,584 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 345.5% in the first 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 last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its position in Nasdaq by 4.4% during the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 11,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

More Nasdaq News

Here are the key news stories impacting Nasdaq this week:

Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations — Nasdaq reported EPS of $0.96 vs. $0.93 expected and stronger-than-expected revenue (double-digit net revenue growth across divisions). This is the primary positive catalyst supporting the stock’s rise. Nasdaq Q1 Results
Positive Sentiment: Dividend hike — the board raised the quarterly dividend to $0.31 (≈14.8% increase), indicating cash return commitment and supporting income-oriented investor interest. Dividend Announcement
Positive Sentiment: Business mix and growth drivers — management highlighted AI and cloud-driven growth in Solutions and FinTech segments, providing conviction that revenue acceleration is sustainable beyond the quarter. AI & Cloud Growth
Positive Sentiment: Analyst action — Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its price target to $97 (market perform), a modest supportive signal from the sell-side that implies upside from current levels. KBW Target Raise
Neutral Sentiment: Mid-month short-interest data — Nasdaq published mid-April short interest across Nasdaq Global Market securities; overall days-to-cover ticked slightly lower to ~2.71 days. This is market-structure data rather than a direct stock-specific catalyst for NDAQ. Mid-Month Short Interest
Neutral Sentiment: Analyst landscape is mixed but skewed positive — several firms maintain overweight/positive views and the median 6‑month target remains above the current price, which supports medium-term upside but isn’t an immediate catalyst. Analyst Targets & Ratings
Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — disclosure shows significant insider sales in the past six months (including a large sale by CEO Adena Friedman), which can be perceived negatively by some investors even if sales have benign explanations. This could cap some near-term upside. Insider Activity
Negative Sentiment: Mixed institutional moves — large reallocations (e.g., UBS materially cut its position while others added) increase volatility risk; big fund flows can amplify moves if followed by further rebalancing. Institutional Activity

Nasdaq Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.