Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Coverage Initiated at William Blair

William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on NDAQ. StockNews.com downgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Nasdaq from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.87.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $82.65 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.30. Nasdaq has a 12 month low of $53.62 and a 12 month high of $83.04. The stock has a market cap of $47.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.49, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.95.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 13.67%. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. Nasdaq’s quarterly revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In related news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 5,742 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total value of $444,086.28. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 205,821 shares in the company, valued at $15,918,196.14. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total transaction of $1,027,515.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 142,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,757,955.60. The trade was a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,459 shares of company stock worth $3,811,808 over the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Nasdaq by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 60,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,420,000 after purchasing an additional 16,868 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,266,000. Sfmg LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq during the third quarter worth approximately $207,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter valued at $651,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 50,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,103,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is 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.