Barclays Raises Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Price Target to $77.00

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) had its price objective upped by Barclays from $74.00 to $77.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on NDAQ. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Nasdaq from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Nasdaq from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and upped their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday. Argus upped their price target on Nasdaq from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Edward Jones assumed coverage on Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a buy rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $68.25.

Nasdaq Stock Up 1.4 %

NDAQ stock opened at $67.92 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day moving average of $61.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.89. Nasdaq has a 52-week low of $46.88 and a 52-week high of $68.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 14.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.89, for a total value of $181,826.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 58,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,511,710.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smithfield Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 22.0% in the first quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 11,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $715,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in Nasdaq by 89.3% in the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 5.6% in the first quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 3,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 18.6% during the second quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 1,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 250 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.