Jefferies Financial Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) Stock Price

Key Points

• Jefferies lowered its price target for Intercontinental Exchange from $189 to $185, though the new target still implies 18.57% potential upside from the $156.03 share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $182.71; however, other firms recently issued downgrades or more cautious ratings.
• ICE reported quarterly earnings of $1.90 per share, beating estimates by $0.06, while revenue rose 4.8% year over year to $3.61 billion. Insiders have sold $6.47 million of stock over the past 90 days, while institutional investors own 89.3% of shares.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by Jefferies Financial Group from $189.00 to $185.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group's price target points to a potential upside of 18.57% from the company's current price.

ICE has been the subject of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 5th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $189.00 price target (up from $182.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen lowered shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $177.00 to $166.00 in a research note on Monday. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $177.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Friday, October 2nd. They set an "underweight" rating and a $159.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $182.71.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of ICE traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $156.03. 2,615,690 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,576,241. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.59 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.94. Intercontinental Exchange has a 52 week low of $121.79 and a 52 week high of $176.05.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 14.95%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.81 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Intercontinental Exchange

In other news, SVP Douglas Foley sold 7,300 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.88, for a total transaction of $1,086,824.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,838,099.44. The trade was a 27.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher Edmonds sold 5,000 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.59, for a total value of $802,950.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,307,196.53. The trade was a 25.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,179 shares of company stock valued at $6,473,715. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 17,398.1% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 54,107,273 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,763,214,000 after buying an additional 53,798,055 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Intercontinental Exchange during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,245,085,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the second quarter worth about $714,869,000. Flossbach Von Storch SE purchased a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange in the second quarter worth about $649,900,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the second quarter valued at approximately $521,557,000. 89.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Intercontinental Exchange Company Profile

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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