Nasdaq’s (NDAQ) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank of Canada

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $95.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 21.76% from the stock’s current price.

NDAQ has been the subject of several other reports. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. William Blair assumed coverage on Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Nasdaq from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.20.

Nasdaq Stock Up 2.2 %

NDAQ traded up $1.66 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $78.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,600,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,919,041. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $79.15 and its 200-day moving average is $72.56. Nasdaq has a 1 year low of $54.90 and a 1 year high of $83.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.72, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.98. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Nasdaq had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. Nasdaq’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 142,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,757,955.60. This trade represents a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.75, for a total transaction of $950,906.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,072,268.75. This trade represents a 10.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,459 shares of company stock valued at $3,811,808 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 1.0% during the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 13,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,011,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 4.2% in the third quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 0.5% in the third quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 28,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Nasdaq by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.