Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $84.15 and last traded at $83.68, with a volume of 262137 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $82.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Argus lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.88.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

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 stock has a market capitalization of $47.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.14, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $79.55 and a 200-day moving average of $75.38.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,075 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.75, for a total transaction of $950,906.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,505 shares in the company, valued at $8,072,268.75. The trade was a 10.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,778.56. The trade was a 5.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 80,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,185,000 after buying an additional 21,000 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 75.7% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 53,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,170,000 after purchasing an additional 23,244 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth approximately $856,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Nasdaq by 49.8% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 164,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,987,000 after purchasing an additional 54,594 shares during the period. Finally, Cumberland Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter valued at $10,400,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.