Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $184.17.

A number of analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $208.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $177.00 price objective (up from $159.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $187.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $211.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 target price (up from $190.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Friday, July 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, SVP Douglas Foley sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $256,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,863 shares in the company, valued at $2,538,080. The trade was a 9.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Benjamin Jackson sold 12,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.09, for a total transaction of $2,059,077.58. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 164,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,297,023.76. The trade was a 7.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,179 shares of company stock worth $6,473,715. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ICE. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 17,398.1% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 54,107,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,763,214,000 after acquiring an additional 53,798,055 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,245,085,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,966,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,196,758,000 after purchasing an additional 415,490 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,812,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,454,209,000 after purchasing an additional 1,634,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,418,228,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock opened at $154.44 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $154.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $151.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.93. Intercontinental Exchange has a 12-month low of $121.79 and a 12-month high of $176.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.06. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 14.95%. The business had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

About Intercontinental Exchange

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc (NYSE: ICE) operates global exchanges, clearinghouses, data services and technology platforms. The company provides marketplaces for trading and clearing a range of financial and commodity products, including energy, agricultural commodities, interest rates, credit and equities.

ICE owns and operates the New York Stock Exchange and related equity markets, as well as futures and options exchanges in North America and Europe. Its businesses also include ICE Data Services, which provides market data, analytics, connectivity and other information services to financial institutions and corporations.

Through ICE Mortgage Technology, the company offers software and digital platforms designed to support residential mortgage origination, processing, servicing and related workflows.