Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on ICE. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Barclays lowered their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $156.00 to $155.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $147.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.92.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ICE traded up $3.96 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $130.50. 3,991,238 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,404,087. Intercontinental Exchange has a 52 week low of $103.81 and a 52 week high of $140.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $135.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company 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.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 2,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.00, for a total value of $295,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 12,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,640,296. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Intercontinental Exchange news, major shareholder Intercontinental Exchange, Inc bought 2,762,009 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $0.87 per share, for a total transaction of $2,402,947.83. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 7,476,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,504,420.15. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 2,176 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.00, for a total transaction of $295,936.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 12,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,640,296. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 157,832 shares of company stock valued at $21,499,127 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ICE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 2.2% in 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 during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of 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 during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,238,559,000 after purchasing an additional 2,530,119 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position 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 period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in 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 worth $832,623,000 after acquiring an additional 282,963 shares during the period. 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.