Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) Short Interest Update

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,910,000 shares, an increase of 33.7% from the April 30th total of 5,170,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,490,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, Director Martha A. Tirinnanzi sold 397 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.11, for a total transaction of $70,312.67. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,526 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $801,599.86. The trade was a 8.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO James W. Namkung sold 612 shares of the 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 now directly owns 13,220 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,379,600. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,191 shares of company stock valued at $694,978. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ICE. Fielder Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 2,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 4.2% in the first quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.1% during the first quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,639 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $973,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 17.2% during the first quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 430 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Values Added Financial LLC raised its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Values Added Financial LLC now owns 1,533 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $189.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $181.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Intercontinental Exchange from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $237.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $188.46.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Down 0.4%

ICE traded down $0.64 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $178.49. The company had a trading volume of 2,438,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,012,668. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $168.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $163.12. Intercontinental Exchange has a 52 week low of $132.93 and a 52 week high of $180.89. The company has a market capitalization of $102.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.34, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 23.42%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.48 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Intercontinental Exchange's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.75%.

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.