Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts give ICE a “Moderate Buy” consensus: Nine analysts rate the stock a buy, one a strong buy and two a hold, with an average 12-month price target of $184.17.
• Intercontinental Exchange reported quarterly EPS of $1.90, beating the $1.84 consensus, while revenue reached $3.61 billion and rose 4.8% year over year.
• Insiders have sold 41,179 shares worth approximately $6.47 million over the past 90 days, while institutional investors own a dominant 89.3% of the company.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $184.1667.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ICE. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $187.00 to $163.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $211.00 to $190.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered Intercontinental Exchange from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $218.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $182.00 target price (up from $180.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Friday, July 31st.

Insider Activity

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, insider Christopher Edmonds sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.59, for a total value of $802,950.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at $2,307,196.53. This trade represents a 25.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 4,574 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.77, for a total transaction of $739,935.98. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 43,065 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,966,625.05. This represents a 9.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 17,398.1% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 54,107,273 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,763,214,000 after purchasing an additional 53,798,055 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the second quarter worth $6,245,085,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter valued at $1,418,228,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 2nd quarter valued at $714,869,000. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE bought a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 2nd quarter worth $649,900,000. Institutional investors own 89.30% of the company's stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

NYSE ICE opened at $152.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Intercontinental Exchange has a 1-year low of $121.79 and a 1-year high of $176.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $151.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Intercontinental Exchange Company Profile

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc NYSE: ICE operates global exchanges, clearinghouses, data services and technology platforms. The company provides marketplaces for trading and clearing a range of financial and commodity products, including energy, agricultural commodities, interest rates, credit and equities.

ICE owns and operates the New York Stock Exchange and related equity markets, as well as futures and options exchanges in North America and Europe. Its businesses also include ICE Data Services, which provides market data, analytics, connectivity and other information services to financial institutions and corporations.

Through ICE Mortgage Technology, the company offers software and digital platforms designed to support residential mortgage origination, processing, servicing and related workflows.

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