Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Lifted to “Buy” at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has $73.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Nasdaq from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a buy rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Nasdaq from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $63.70.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $63.10 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Nasdaq has a fifty-two week low of $46.88 and a fifty-two week high of $63.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.33 billion, a PE ratio of 29.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.74.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 19.28% and a net margin of 17.48%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.71%.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,341,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,383,809,610. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. RB Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Nasdaq by 15.9% in the first quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 3,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Nasdaq by 10.2% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in Nasdaq by 14.1% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $701,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Nasdaq by 8.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 136,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,319,000 after acquiring an additional 10,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Nasdaq by 32.0% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 316,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,373,000 after acquiring an additional 76,603 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.