Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,680,000 shares, an increase of 8.8% from the May 31st total of 4,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,250,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Judith A. Sprieser sold 2,267 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.57, for a total transaction of $305,070.19. Following the completion of 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 accessible through the SEC website. In other Intercontinental Exchange news, Director Judith A. Sprieser sold 2,267 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 28,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,882,209.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 58,388 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.21, for a total value of $8,011,417.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,179,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $161,893,392.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 62,894 shares of company stock valued at $8,620,792. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Intercontinental Exchange

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ICE. Annapolis Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 1,018.8% during the first quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Intercontinental Exchange during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 82.3% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. 89.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ICE shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on 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 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $156.00 to $155.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. 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 research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.29.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ICE traded up $3.25 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $140.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,000,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,337,442. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.41, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $134.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $132.90. Intercontinental Exchange has a fifty-two week low of $104.49 and a fifty-two week high of $140.43.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 12.76% and a net margin of 24.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current year.

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.