Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Stock Price

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its target price increased by Citigroup from $78.00 to $84.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on NDAQ. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James upped their target price on Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Nasdaq from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.60.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $75.88 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $79.23 and a 200-day moving average of $72.60. The company has a market cap of $43.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. Nasdaq has a 1 year low of $54.90 and a 1 year high of $83.77.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted 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. Nasdaq had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. Nasdaq’s revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 6,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.71, for a total value of $454,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 215,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,320,274.73. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total value of $1,027,515.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 142,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,757,955.60. This trade represents a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,459 shares of company stock worth $3,811,808 over the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 9,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,502,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 1,022.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 409,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,743,000 after purchasing an additional 373,376 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $60,099,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently 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.