Oppenheimer Increases Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Price Target to $86.00

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its price objective hoisted by analysts at Oppenheimer from $84.00 to $86.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Oppenheimer’s target price suggests a potential upside of 15.47% from the stock’s current price.

NDAQ has been the topic of several other research reports. Raymond James upgraded Nasdaq from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.27.

Nasdaq Trading Down 1.0 %

NDAQ traded down $0.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $74.48. 609,405 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,889,093. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. Nasdaq has a one year low of $47.56 and a one year high of $75.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.78, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.60.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 14.43%. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total transaction of $2,764,295,688.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,804,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,764,295,688.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,239,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,043,936,000 after buying an additional 3,173,981 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 28.4% in 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. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 283.8% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 1,154,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,880,000 after buying an additional 853,414 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Nasdaq by 67.6% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,022,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $121,879,000 after buying an additional 815,946 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in Nasdaq by 196.5% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,010,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,793,000 after acquiring an additional 670,024 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.