Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft Upgrades Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) to Buy

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) was upgraded by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $98.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $80.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft’s price target points to a potential upside of 28.34% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on NDAQ. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. William Blair initiated coverage on Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.60.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $76.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $43.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $79.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.52. Nasdaq has a 1-year low of $54.90 and a 1-year high of $83.77.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total transaction of $1,027,515.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 142,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,757,955.60. This represents a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 5,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total value of $444,086.28. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 205,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,918,196.14. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,459 shares of company stock worth $3,811,808 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 1,022.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 409,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,743,000 after acquiring an additional 373,376 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Nasdaq by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,169,000 after purchasing an additional 1,926 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $60,099,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in Nasdaq by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 90,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,618,000 after purchasing an additional 6,704 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 60,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,420,000 after buying an additional 16,868 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.