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

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $178.80.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ICE shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $178.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $179.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $190.00 to $189.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Stuart Glen Williams sold 750 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total value of $114,742.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,780 shares in the company, valued at $1,955,212.20. This trade represents a 5.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Benjamin Jackson sold 17,104 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.62, for a total transaction of $2,849,868.48. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 155,174 shares in the company, valued at $25,855,091.88. This trade represents a 9.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 68,268 shares of company stock worth $11,262,789 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Intercontinental Exchange

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter valued at $1,196,258,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 132.9% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,121,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,359,173,000 after buying an additional 5,204,309 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 423.8% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 4,546,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $677,465,000 after buying an additional 3,678,384 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 326.3% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,520,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $726,196,000 after buying an additional 3,460,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter valued at $406,728,000. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE ICE opened at $173.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.48 billion, a PE ratio of 36.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Intercontinental Exchange has a 1 year low of $124.34 and a 1 year high of $175.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $157.87 and its 200-day moving average is $158.93.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.01). Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 12.95%. Equities analysts expect that Intercontinental Exchange will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 16th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.17%.

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.