Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE)

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors acquired 51,408 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,427% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,366 call options.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:ICE traded down $0.85 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $156.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,191,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,919,879. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $151.73. Intercontinental Exchange has a 1 year low of $121.79 and a 1 year high of $176.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Intercontinental Exchange will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Intercontinental Exchange

In other news, SVP Douglas Foley sold 1,600 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $256,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 17,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,794,080. This trade represents a 8.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Martha Tirinnanzi sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.16, for a total transaction of $215,954.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $603,866.52. This trade represents a 26.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,579 shares of company stock worth $6,217,715. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ICE. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 191,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,041,000 after buying an additional 10,742 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the second quarter valued at about $6,245,085,000. USS Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 37.2% during the first quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 946,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $148,960,000 after acquiring an additional 256,851 shares during the last quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 124,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,244,000 after purchasing an additional 15,129 shares during the period. Finally, Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the first quarter worth about $11,498,000. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ICE has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $177.00 price objective (up from $159.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen cut Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 5th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $218.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target (up from $190.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $178.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Intercontinental Exchange has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $184.17.

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.