Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Coverage Initiated at William Blair

Stock analysts at William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in a note issued to investors on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Nasdaq from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Nasdaq from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.87.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $81.07 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $46.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.55, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.95. Nasdaq has a 12 month low of $53.62 and a 12 month high of $81.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The firm’s revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.71, for a total transaction of $454,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 215,563 shares in the company, valued at $16,320,274.73. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.92, for a total transaction of $935,040.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 114,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,928,073.60. This trade represents a 9.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,459 shares of company stock worth $3,811,808 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NDAQ. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 94.8% in the 2nd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Claro Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

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.