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

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $194.7273.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $183.00 price objective on Intercontinental Exchange and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Intercontinental Exchange from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays set a $193.00 target price on Intercontinental Exchange and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Benjamin Jackson sold 3,865 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.73, for a total transaction of $594,166.45. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 165,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,412,183.92. This represents a 2.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lynn C. Martin sold 13,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.86, for a total transaction of $2,070,340.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 54,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,357,521.34. The trade was a 19.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 348,418 shares of company stock worth $54,196,631 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Intercontinental Exchange

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ICE. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Steph & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 104.7% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Brooklands Fund Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 89.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Shares of ICE stock opened at $156.97 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $161.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.63. Intercontinental Exchange has a one year low of $143.17 and a one year high of $189.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.15 billion, a PE ratio of 27.21, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 26.23% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 16th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.05%.

Intercontinental Exchange Company Profile

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) is a global operator of exchanges, clearing houses and data services that provides infrastructure for the trading, clearing, settlement and information needs of financial and commodity markets. Founded in 2000 by Jeffrey C. Sprecher as an electronic energy trading platform, the company has grown through organic expansion and acquisitions to operate a broad portfolio of assets spanning listed equities, futures and options, fixed income, and over-the-counter derivatives.