Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $180.64 and last traded at $179.95, with a volume of 5439058 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $178.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ICE shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $181.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $189.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $188.46.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Up 0.8%

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $162.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.12.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.02. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.48 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, insider Christopher Scott Edmonds sold 552 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.52, for a total transaction of $96,335.04. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,732,634.16. This trade represents a 3.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Judith A. Sprieser sold 2,630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total transaction of $418,170.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,396,876. The trade was a 10.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,579 shares of company stock valued at $584,818 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $514,000 after purchasing an additional 1,169 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 7,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 2,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 2,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Company Profile

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of market infrastructure, data services, and technology solutions for financial institutions, corporations, and government entities in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Singapore, India, Abu Dhabi, Israel, and Canada.