Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on NDAQ. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.88.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NDAQ stock opened at $76.91 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $79.18 and its 200-day moving average is $77.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $44.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96. Nasdaq has a twelve month low of $58.10 and a twelve month high of $84.15.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. Equities research analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other 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 directly owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at $4,398,253.92. This represents a 20.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,532,778.56. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Founders Capital Management acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 106.6% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 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.