Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $86.30, but opened at $82.32. Nasdaq shares last traded at $83.9480, with a volume of 1,806,568 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 target price on Nasdaq and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target (up previously from $99.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, October 13th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.13.

Nasdaq Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50-day moving average of $95.58 and a 200-day moving average of $92.59.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Nasdaq had a net margin of 21.77% and a return on equity of 16.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 34.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.91, for a total transaction of $29,073,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,924,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $186,542,349.73. The trade was a 13.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.01, for a total value of $450,045.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 125,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,568,656.74. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 604,500 shares of company stock worth $58,440,045 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bantamac Capital LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth $291,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 113.2% during the 4th quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 18,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,796,000 after buying an additional 9,817 shares during the period. Texas Yale Capital Corp. grew its stake in Nasdaq by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 32,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,117,000 after buying an additional 1,711 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Nasdaq by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,063,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,276,000 after buying an additional 26,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 21,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,126,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Company Profile

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology company that operates one of the world’s leading electronic securities exchanges and provides a broad array of products and services to capital markets participants. Its core activities include operating the Nasdaq Stock Market and other trading venues, developing and supplying market technology and matching engines to exchanges and trading firms, licensing market data and indices, and offering clearing, trade execution and post-trade solutions. The company also provides market surveillance, risk management and regulatory technology used by exchanges and regulators.

Founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) as the first electronic stock market, Nasdaq has evolved into a diversified marketplace and technology provider.