Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Trading Down 4.2% – Here’s Why

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)’s share price traded down 4.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $85.57 and last traded at $85.5220. 2,481,393 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 3,866,181 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NDAQ. TD Cowen raised Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Barclays upped their price target on Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.36.

Nasdaq Stock Down 6.7%

The company has a market capitalization of $47.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.05, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $89.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.35%.

Insider Activity

In other Nasdaq news, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total transaction of $117,508.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares in the company, valued at $896,104.98. This trade represents a 11.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ab Investor purchased 56,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $85.98 per share, for a total transaction of $4,882,116.36. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 58,439,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,024,603,103.84. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 138,162 shares of company stock worth $11,932,913. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Company Profile

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology company that operates one of the world’s leading electronic securities exchanges and provides a broad array of products and services to capital markets participants. Its core activities include operating the Nasdaq Stock Market and other trading venues, developing and supplying market technology and matching engines to exchanges and trading firms, licensing market data and indices, and offering clearing, trade execution and post-trade solutions. The company also provides market surveillance, risk management and regulatory technology used by exchanges and regulators.

Founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) as the first electronic stock market, Nasdaq has evolved into a diversified marketplace and technology provider.