Oppenheimer Boosts Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Price Target to $75.00

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its target price raised by Oppenheimer from $72.00 to $75.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on NDAQ. StockNews.com cut shares of Nasdaq from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Barclays increased their target price on Nasdaq from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday. Argus lifted their price target on Nasdaq from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Edward Jones started coverage on Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued a buy rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Nasdaq from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and raised their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $80.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $68.25.

Nasdaq Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $67.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.07 billion, a PE ratio of 35.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.94. Nasdaq has a 52-week low of $46.88 and a 52-week high of $68.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $61.01 and its 200 day moving average is $59.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 14.43%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 50.53%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.89, for a total value of $181,826.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,511,710.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Thoma Bravo L.P. purchased a new position in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $4,166,454,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 7.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,239,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,043,936,000 after buying an additional 3,173,981 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 28.4% during the first quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,436,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $532,357,000 after buying an additional 1,866,219 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth about $239,347,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Nasdaq by 26.5% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,878,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $181,609,000 after acquiring an additional 602,040 shares in the last quarter. 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.