Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on ICE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $151.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $171.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $159.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Friday, September 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.13.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ICE traded up $2.34 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $163.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,547,833 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,496,697. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $93.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $157.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.16. Intercontinental Exchange has a fifty-two week low of $104.49 and a fifty-two week high of $163.71.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange will post 6.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christopher Scott Edmonds sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.60, for a total transaction of $148,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 14,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,174,909.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Christopher Scott Edmonds sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.60, for a total transaction of $148,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,636 shares in the company, valued at $2,174,909.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 2,048 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.57, for a total value of $326,799.36. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 44,865 shares in the company, valued at $7,159,108.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,316 shares of company stock valued at $9,835,609 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 35.0% during the 4th 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. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,776,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,978,218,000 after purchasing an additional 3,536,913 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 303.1% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,381,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $305,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,790,493 shares during the period. CCLA Investment Management increased its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 91,838.2% in the first quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 1,114,291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $152,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the second quarter valued at approximately $124,508,000. 89.30% of the stock is currently 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.