Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) Receives $148.08 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $147.92.

A number of analysts have recently commented on ICE shares. Citigroup upped their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $156.00 to $155.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Intercontinental Exchange, Inc purchased 2,762,009 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $0.87 per share, with a total value of $2,402,947.83. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 7,476,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,504,420.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Intercontinental Exchange news, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 341 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $44,923.34. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 48,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,417,450.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Intercontinental Exchange, Inc bought 2,762,009 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $0.87 per share, with a total value of $2,402,947.83. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 7,476,345 shares in the company, valued at $6,504,420.15. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 157,832 shares of company stock worth $21,499,127. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ICE. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,919,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,162,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012,034 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 35.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,397,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,105,994,000 after acquiring an additional 4,251,371 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,643,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,238,559,000 after acquiring an additional 2,530,119 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 8,429,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,082,646,000 after acquiring an additional 1,621,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 3.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,567,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $832,623,000 after purchasing an additional 282,963 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ICE opened at $130.50 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.02. The stock has a market cap of $74.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.93, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Intercontinental Exchange has a 12 month low of $103.81 and a 12 month high of $140.43.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 24.24% and a return on equity of 12.76%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 13th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 13th. Intercontinental Exchange’s payout ratio is 41.28%.

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.