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

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

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Barclays raised 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $178.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Intercontinental Exchange from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

ICE stock opened at $174.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $167.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $160.57. Intercontinental Exchange has a 52-week low of $124.34 and a 52-week high of $177.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.54, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 16th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Benjamin Jackson sold 7,900 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.43, for a total transaction of $1,354,297.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 147,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,247,181.82. The trade was a 5.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 5,661 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.59, for a total value of $835,506.99. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 66,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,821,819.32. This represents a 7.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,563 shares of company stock worth $10,998,990. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the third quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 23,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,851,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 4,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 53.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 11,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,846,000 after purchasing an additional 3,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 135.2% during the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 122,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,685,000 after purchasing an additional 70,436 shares during the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.