Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) Receives $194.73 Average PT from Brokerages

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) has earned an average rating of “Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $194.7273.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ICE. Wall Street Zen upgraded Intercontinental Exchange from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Monday, February 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $211.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Down 0.2%

ICE opened at $165.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company’s 50-day moving average is $164.77 and its 200 day moving average is $162.68. Intercontinental Exchange has a fifty-two week low of $143.17 and a fifty-two week high of $189.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.75, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.04.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 26.23% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Research analysts expect that Intercontinental Exchange will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 16th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intercontinental Exchange

In other news, President Benjamin Jackson sold 3,865 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.73, for a total transaction of $594,166.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 165,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,412,183.92. This represents a 2.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 4,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.00, for a total transaction of $740,502.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 48,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,805,322. The trade was a 8.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 350,018 shares of company stock valued at $54,457,751 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,153,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,770,647,000 after buying an additional 413,639 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 17,398.1% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 54,107,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,763,214,000 after acquiring an additional 53,798,055 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,653,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,154,914,000 after acquiring an additional 837,208 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,875,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,571,212,000 after acquiring an additional 158,450 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 1.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 145,961 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Company Profile

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.