Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) Downgraded to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $147.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $147.92.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ICE opened at $131.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $75.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.02. Intercontinental Exchange has a 12-month low of $103.81 and a 12-month high of $140.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $134.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 24.24% and a return on equity of 12.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. Analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 13th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.28%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Elizabeth Kathryn King sold 3,783 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.03, for a total value of $499,469.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,242 shares in the company, valued at $2,276,461.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO James W. Namkung sold 1,182 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.03, for a total transaction of $156,059.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 16,396 shares in the company, valued at $2,164,763.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Elizabeth Kathryn King sold 3,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.03, for a total transaction of $499,469.49. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,276,461.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 157,832 shares of company stock worth $21,499,127 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ICE. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 219.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,146,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,336,371,000 after purchasing an additional 8,348,126 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $839,259,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,643,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,238,559,000 after acquiring an additional 2,530,119 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 303.1% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,381,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $305,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,790,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 8,429,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,082,646,000 after acquiring an additional 1,621,737 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

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.