Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus is “Moderate Buy”: Nine of 12 analysts recommend buying Intercontinental Exchange, one rates it a strong buy, and two recommend holding. The average 12-month price target is $183.33.
• ICE recently reported quarterly EPS of $1.90, exceeding the $1.84 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $3.61 billion and increased 4.8% year over year.
• Institutional investors own 89.30% of the stock, while insiders sold 23,141 shares worth approximately $3.55 million over the past quarter.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $183.3333.

ICE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Intercontinental Exchange from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 22nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price objective (up from $190.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Friday, July 31st. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $177.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 target price on Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Monday, July 6th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Martha A. Tirinnanzi sold 1,340 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.16, for a total transaction of $215,954.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,747 shares of the company's stock, valued at $603,866.52. This trade represents a 26.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 2,491 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.30, for a total transaction of $389,343.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,698 shares in the company, valued at $3,547,697.40. This trade represents a 9.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 23,141 shares of company stock worth $3,554,192. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 11,968.7% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 108,380,996 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,342,784,000 after buying an additional 107,482,962 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its position 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 during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,245,085,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,653,952 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,154,914,000 after acquiring an additional 837,208 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,875,593 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,571,212,000 after acquiring an additional 158,450 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.30% of the company's stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

ICE stock opened at $162.46 on Friday. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $151.50. The company has a market capitalization of $91.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.92. Intercontinental Exchange has a 52-week low of $121.79 and a 52-week high of $177.76.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business posted $1.81 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Intercontinental Exchange will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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