Barclays Trims Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Target Price to $73.00

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its target price decreased by Barclays from $76.00 to $73.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on NDAQ. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Nasdaq from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Nasdaq from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Nasdaq from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price target for the company from $59.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Edward Jones started coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a buy rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $66.92.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $60.08 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.63. Nasdaq has a fifty-two week low of $46.88 and a fifty-two week high of $64.25. The company has a market capitalization of $34.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.98% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total value of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 58,341,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,383,809,610. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Nasdaq news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total value of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 58,341,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,383,809,610. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total value of $465,534.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,879,785.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Thoma Bravo L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth about $4,166,454,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Nasdaq by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,065,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,620,131,000 after acquiring an additional 745,965 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 214.0% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,281,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $305,224,000 after acquiring an additional 4,280,846 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 16.6% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,787,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $232,564,000 after purchasing an additional 681,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth approximately $239,347,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by 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.