Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) Downgraded to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Friday.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on ICE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $156.00 to $155.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $147.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a buy rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Intercontinental Exchange has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $147.92.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

ICE traded up $3.96 on Friday, reaching $130.50. The company had a trading volume of 3,991,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,404,087. Intercontinental Exchange has a fifty-two week low of $103.81 and a fifty-two week high of $140.43. The stock has a market cap of $74.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average is $135.17 and its 200 day moving average is $125.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 24.24% and a return on equity of 12.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Intercontinental Exchange, Inc bought 2,762,009 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were acquired 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Intercontinental Exchange news, CAO James W. Namkung sold 1,182 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.03, for a total value of $156,059.46. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 16,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,164,763.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Intercontinental Exchange, Inc acquired 2,762,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $0.87 per share, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 157,832 shares of company stock valued at $21,499,127 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 2.2% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 35.0% during 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 lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,082,646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,621,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 3.9% during 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 in the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is owned by 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.