Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) Hits New 52-Week High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) recently reached a new 52-week high of $189.35, with the stock trading at $187.14 at the latest close.
• Analysts have boosted ICE's price targets, with Barclays setting a new target of $212.00 and UBS raising theirs to $210.00, indicating strong support for a "buy" rating.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $1.81 per share, surpassing estimates, with a revenue of $3.26 billion, reflecting a 9.8% year-over-year increase.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $189.35 and last traded at $187.14, with a volume of 2783624 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $188.02.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on ICE shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $180.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. 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 report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $181.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Intercontinental Exchange currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $194.92.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Down 1.0%

The business's 50-day moving average price is $181.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $103.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Intercontinental Exchange's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO James W. Namkung sold 612 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $110,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 13,220 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,379,600. This represents a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 150,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.22, for a total transaction of $26,883,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,101,705 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $376,667,570.10. This represents a 6.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 226,913 shares of company stock valued at $40,671,107 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 1.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,685,491 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,849,677,000 after buying an additional 745,135 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 1.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,438,154 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,270,657,000 after buying an additional 145,961 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 132.9% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,121,352 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,359,173,000 after buying an additional 5,204,309 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the second quarter worth approximately $1,542,780,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,422,007 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,105,953,000 after buying an additional 655,247 shares during the period. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Intercontinental Exchange Company Profile

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.