Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) Given New $178.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has reduced its price target for Intercontinental Exchange from $188.00 to $178.00, maintaining an "equal weight" rating, which indicates a potential upside of 13.47% from the previous close.
• Piper Sandler and UBS Group have increased their price targets for the stock to $202.00 and $210.00 respectively, suggesting a positive outlook from multiple analysts.
• Intercontinental Exchange's recent quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $1.81 earnings per share and $3.26 billion in revenue, marking a 9.8% year-over-year increase.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) had its price target decreased by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $188.00 to $178.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price suggests a potential upside of 13.47% from the company's previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $180.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $195.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $198.60.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:ICE traded up $1.58 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $156.87. 1,616,070 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,056,666. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.11, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Intercontinental Exchange has a 12-month low of $142.29 and a 12-month high of $189.35. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $170.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.57.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 23.92% and a return on equity of 13.66%. The company's revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intercontinental Exchange

In other news, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 10,082 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.88, for a total transaction of $1,601,828.16. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 65,240 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,365,331.20. This represents a 13.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Judith A. Sprieser sold 2,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.51, for a total transaction of $506,079.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,170,672.19. This trade represents a 13.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 240,956 shares of company stock worth $43,789,542. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,542,780,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 491.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,433,497 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,109,780,000 after purchasing an additional 5,345,388 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 1st quarter worth about $575,383,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 113.9% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,943,363 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,025,230,000 after purchasing an additional 3,165,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sands Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 97.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 5,313,039 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $974,783,000 after purchasing an additional 2,620,310 shares during the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Intercontinental Exchange

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.

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