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

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

NDAQ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group upped their price target on Nasdaq from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on Nasdaq from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Citigroup upped their price target on Nasdaq from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. StockNews.com raised Nasdaq from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Nasdaq from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and upped their price target for the company from $59.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $66.92.

Nasdaq Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $60.12 on Friday. Nasdaq has a 1-year low of $46.88 and a 1-year high of $64.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $59.93 and a 200-day moving average of $56.46. The firm has a market cap of $34.58 billion, a PE ratio of 31.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.93.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.02). Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.98% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. This is an increase from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 approximately $3,383,809,610. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related 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 approximately $3,383,809,610. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was 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 owns 61,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,879,785.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in Nasdaq by 89.3% in the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 74.9% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is 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.