StockNews.com Downgrades Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) to Sell

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

NDAQ has been the topic of several other reports. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Nasdaq from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.88.

Nasdaq Trading Down 4.2 %

NASDAQ NDAQ traded down $3.03 on Wednesday, hitting $68.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,578,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,824,964. The firm has a market cap of $39.66 billion, a PE ratio of 36.03, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50-day moving average is $77.24 and its 200 day moving average is $77.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Nasdaq has a 1-year low of $58.10 and a 1-year high of $84.15.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. As a group, analysts predict that Nasdaq will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at $4,398,253.92. This trade represents a 20.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,778.56. This trade represents a 5.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,116 shares of company stock worth $1,434,818 over the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Founders Capital Management bought a new position in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 106.6% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.