Raymond James Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Stock

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its target price lifted by equities research analysts at Raymond James from $83.00 to $84.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Raymond James’ price target indicates a potential upside of 7.66% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen cut 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. Argus boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.73.

Nasdaq Stock Up 2.2 %

NDAQ opened at $78.02 on Thursday. Nasdaq has a 12 month low of $54.90 and a 12 month high of $83.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $79.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.56. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $44.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.98.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 14.56%. Nasdaq’s revenue was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.71, for a total transaction of $454,260.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 215,563 shares in the company, valued at $16,320,274.73. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.92, for a total transaction of $935,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 114,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,928,073.60. The trade was a 9.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,459 shares of company stock valued at $3,811,808. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cumberland Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter valued at about $10,400,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 49.8% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 164,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,987,000 after acquiring an additional 54,594 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,701,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,358,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,144,000 after purchasing an additional 174,778 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,223,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $235,343,000 after purchasing an additional 313,079 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

About Nasdaq

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.