Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE) – What Are Investment Firms Thinking About This Stock?

Shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $186.31.

ICE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $232.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $163.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $189.00 target price (up from $182.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock opened at $163.82 on Friday. Intercontinental Exchange has a fifty-two week low of $121.79 and a fifty-two week high of $176.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $91.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day moving average of $157.10 and a 200 day moving average of $150.81.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 30.08%. The business had revenue of $3.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange will post 8.20 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 4,574 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.77, for a total transaction of $739,935.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 43,065 shares in the company, valued at $6,966,625.05. This trade represents a 9.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas Foley sold 1,600 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $256,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,863 shares in the company, valued at $2,538,080. This trade represents a 9.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,179 shares of company stock worth $6,473,715. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ICE. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 2nd quarter worth about $6,245,085,000. USS Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 37.2% during the 1st quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 946,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $148,960,000 after buying an additional 256,851 shares in the last quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 1st quarter valued at about $11,498,000. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,795,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $596,936,000 after buying an additional 268,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich lifted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 35.5% in 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 acquiring 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, Inc (NYSE:ICE) is a global operator of exchanges, clearinghouses, data services and technology platforms. The company owns and operates the New York Stock Exchange and other exchanges serving equity, options, futures and over-the-counter markets. Its marketplaces support trading in areas including energy, agricultural commodities, interest rates, currencies, equity indexes and individual stocks.

ICE also provides clearing and settlement services that help manage counterparty and transaction risk, along with market data, analytics, connectivity and other technology solutions for financial institutions and businesses.