Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Research Coverage Started at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in a research report report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $88.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on NDAQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America raised shares of Nasdaq from an underperform rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a hold rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $73.87.

Nasdaq Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $73.01 on Friday. Nasdaq has a twelve month low of $46.88 and a twelve month high of $74.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.00 billion, a PE ratio of 38.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $70.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.21.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 14.43%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nasdaq news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 42,804,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,764,295,688.06. 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 Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Thoma Bravo L.P. bought a new stake in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth $4,166,454,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Nasdaq by 7.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,173,981 shares in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 28.4% during the 1st quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,436,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $532,357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,219 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 2.0% during the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,767,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $287,270,000 after purchasing an additional 94,122 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 26.5% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,878,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $181,609,000 after purchasing an additional 602,040 shares in 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.