Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Analysts

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, twelve have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $186.31.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $189.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $173.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $163.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $232.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE ICE opened at $162.73 on Friday. Intercontinental Exchange has a 12-month low of $121.79 and a 12-month high of $176.05. The company has a market capitalization of $91.36 billion, a PE ratio of 22.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $157.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $150.89.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.63 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange will post 8.20 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Intercontinental Exchange

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, insider Christopher Edmonds sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.59, for a total value of $802,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,307,196.53. This represents a 25.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Benjamin Jackson sold 12,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.09, for a total transaction of $2,059,077.58. Following the sale, the president directly owned 164,264 shares in the company, valued at $26,297,023.76. This represents a 7.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 41,179 shares of company stock worth $6,473,715 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,245,085,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 2nd quarter worth $714,869,000. Flossbach Von Storch SE acquired a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the second quarter worth $649,900,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the second quarter worth $521,557,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the second quarter worth $474,012,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Company Profile

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc (NYSE:ICE) is a global operator of exchanges, clearinghouses, data services and technology platforms. The company owns and operates the New York Stock Exchange and other exchanges serving equity, options, futures and over-the-counter markets. Its marketplaces support trading in areas including energy, agricultural commodities, interest rates, currencies, equity indexes and individual stocks.

ICE also provides clearing and settlement services that help manage counterparty and transaction risk, along with market data, analytics, connectivity and other technology solutions for financial institutions and businesses.