Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday.

ICE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $190.00 to $189.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James cut Intercontinental Exchange from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.80.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Shares of ICE opened at $166.57 on Monday. Intercontinental Exchange has a 1 year low of $124.34 and a 1 year high of $169.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.64 billion, a PE ratio of 34.85, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.30.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.01). Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 23.42%. On average, analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 16th. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, insider Christopher Scott Edmonds sold 601 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.73, for a total value of $88,785.73. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,922 shares in the company, valued at $1,908,967.06. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 5,661 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.59, for a total value of $835,506.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 66,548 shares in the company, valued at $9,821,819.32. This represents a 7.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,358 shares of company stock worth $5,535,650. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Intercontinental Exchange

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,228,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,782,521,000 after acquiring an additional 538,670 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,651,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,799,393,000 after purchasing an additional 281,503 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,883,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,765,317,000 after purchasing an additional 327,637 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter worth about $1,196,258,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 44.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,846,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,260,449,000 after buying an additional 2,401,630 shares in the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Intercontinental Exchange Company Profile

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.