Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) Upgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $147.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their target price for the company from $155.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a buy rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Intercontinental Exchange from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the company from $143.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $154.79.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

NYSE ICE traded up $1.76 on Monday, hitting $150.54. 2,949,178 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,460,438. The company has a market capitalization of $86.35 billion, a PE ratio of 34.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The business’s fifty day moving average is $141.35 and its 200 day moving average is $136.69. Intercontinental Exchange has a 52 week low of $104.49 and a 52 week high of $153.28.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 21.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Judith A. Sprieser sold 2,267 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.57, for a total value of $305,070.19. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 28,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,882,209.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Judith A. Sprieser sold 2,267 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.57, for a total value of $305,070.19. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 28,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,882,209.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 1,898 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.66, for a total transaction of $259,380.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 46,815 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,397,737.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 64,992 shares of company stock valued at $9,197,801. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,776,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,978,218,000 after acquiring an additional 3,536,913 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 4,251,371 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,643,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,238,559,000 after purchasing an additional 2,530,119 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 8,429,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,082,646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,621,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter valued at about $839,259,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

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.