Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Price Target Cut to $88.00

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its price objective lowered by equities research analysts at Bank of America from $90.00 to $88.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 21.01% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, September 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.40.

Nasdaq Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Nasdaq stock traded down $0.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $72.72. The stock had a trading volume of 1,410,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,908,826. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.36. The stock has a market cap of $41.83 billion, a PE ratio of 38.29, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Nasdaq has a 12 month low of $47.38 and a 12 month high of $74.88.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 15.45%. The firm’s revenue was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In related news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total value of $2,764,295,688.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,804,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,764,295,688.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Smithfield Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 22.0% during the first quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 1.6% during the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 11,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 5.4% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 3,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 0.6% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 32,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,967,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 89.3% during the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Company Profile

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.