Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $194.30.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $199.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Intercontinental Exchange from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ICE opened at $163.53 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Intercontinental Exchange has a 12 month low of $142.29 and a 12 month high of $189.35. The company has a market capitalization of $93.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.79, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $155.72 and its 200 day moving average is $169.03.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.71. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.49 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 13.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Douglas Foley sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.20, for a total value of $261,120.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 24,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,948,787.20. This represents a 6.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 10,082 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.88, for a total value of $1,601,828.16. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 65,240 shares in the company, valued at $10,365,331.20. The trade was a 13.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 176,150 shares of company stock worth $27,072,531. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,685,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,849,677,000 after acquiring an additional 745,135 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,816,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,181,125,000 after purchasing an additional 194,325 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,438,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,270,657,000 after purchasing an additional 145,961 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 64.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,354,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,744,480,000 after purchasing an additional 4,067,922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,542,780,000. 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.