Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $211.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $187.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $208.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Intercontinental Exchange presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $183.33.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

Shares of ICE stock opened at $162.89 on Friday. Intercontinental Exchange has a twelve month low of $121.79 and a twelve month high of $181.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $151.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 30.08%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.81 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 4,271 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.20, for a total value of $645,775.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 67,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,279,785.60. This trade represents a 5.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 2,491 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.30, for a total transaction of $389,343.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 22,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,547,697.40. This trade represents a 9.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 17,227 shares of company stock worth $2,598,301 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 11,968.7% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 108,380,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,342,784,000 after acquiring an additional 107,482,962 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank lifted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 88.4% during the 2nd quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 39,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,881,000 after acquiring an additional 18,604 shares during the period. NBH Bank acquired a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the 2nd quarter worth about $751,000. AlphaGrep UK Ltd purchased a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the 2nd quarter valued at about $889,000. Finally, Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 35.5% during the 2nd quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich now owns 331,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,817,000 after purchasing an additional 86,897 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

About Intercontinental Exchange

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) is a global operator of exchanges, clearing houses and data services that provides infrastructure for the trading, clearing, settlement and information needs of financial and commodity markets. Founded in 2000 by Jeffrey C. Sprecher as an electronic energy trading platform, the company has grown through organic expansion and acquisitions to operate a broad portfolio of assets spanning listed equities, futures and options, fixed income, and over-the-counter derivatives.