Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) Raised to "Strong Sell" at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo downgraded Intercontinental Exchange to “strong sell” and set a $159 price target, implying approximately 5.86% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: MarketBeat reports a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $182.62, despite recent downgrades from several firms.
• ICE beat quarterly expectations, reporting $1.90 in EPS versus $1.84 expected and $3.61 billion in revenue; however, company insiders sold approximately $6.47 million worth of shares over the past 90 days.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company to a "strong sell" rating in a research note issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $159.00 price target on the financial services provider's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target would indicate a potential upside of 5.86% from the stock's previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings cut Intercontinental Exchange from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $187.00 to $163.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Intercontinental Exchange from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 5th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $177.00 price target (up from $159.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $177.00 price objective on Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $182.62.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

ICE stock opened at $150.20 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $155.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.98. The stock has a market cap of $84.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.94. Intercontinental Exchange has a fifty-two week low of $121.79 and a fifty-two week high of $176.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.06. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 30.08%.The firm had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Intercontinental Exchange

In other news, President Benjamin Jackson sold 12,862 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.09, for a total transaction of $2,059,077.58. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 164,264 shares in the company, valued at $26,297,023.76. The trade was a 7.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Douglas Foley sold 7,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.88, for a total transaction of $1,086,824.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,838,099.44. This represents a 27.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 41,179 shares of company stock worth $6,473,715 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CX Institutional raised its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,059 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $769,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 29.5% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,178 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the third quarter worth $41,000. Hickory Point Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 44.4% in the third quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust now owns 325 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 14.2% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,465 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,643,000 after acquiring an additional 2,662 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.30% of the company's stock.

About Intercontinental Exchange

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc NYSE: ICE operates global exchanges, clearinghouses, data services and technology platforms. The company provides marketplaces and infrastructure that support the trading, clearing and management of risk across financial and commodity markets.

Its businesses include the New York Stock Exchange, ICE Futures exchanges and ICE Clear clearinghouses. ICE offers trading and clearing services for equities, equity options, interest rates, currencies, energy, agricultural commodities, metals and other contracts.

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