Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,710,000 shares, a decrease of 8.6% from the August 31st total of 6,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,770,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Shares of ICE traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $161.15. 3,076,881 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,498,945. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Intercontinental Exchange has a twelve month low of $104.49 and a twelve month high of $163.71. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $157.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $143.72.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 21.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ICE. Citigroup increased their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $151.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Intercontinental Exchange from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $143.00 to $167.00 in a report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intercontinental Exchange

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 395 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $55,746.35. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 64,471 shares in the company, valued at $9,098,792.23. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Intercontinental Exchange news, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 395 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $55,746.35. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 64,471 shares in the company, valued at $9,098,792.23. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 58,389 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.68, for a total transaction of $8,272,553.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,179,993 shares in the company, valued at $167,181,408.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 68,316 shares of company stock worth $9,835,609 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,397,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,105,994,000 after acquiring an additional 4,251,371 shares during the period. Point72 Europe London LLP grew its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 66,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,515,000 after acquiring an additional 6,500 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd boosted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,487,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $204,495,000 after purchasing an additional 6,272 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 819.7% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 137,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,764,000 after purchasing an additional 122,169 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 317,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,617,000 after purchasing an additional 20,802 shares during the period. 89.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Intercontinental Exchange

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.