TD Cowen Begins Coverage on Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE)

TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $182.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on ICE. StockNews.com cut shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Intercontinental Exchange from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $143.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Monday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $151.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $152.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $162.47.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

NYSE ICE opened at $158.62 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $90.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.08. Intercontinental Exchange has a 52-week low of $104.49 and a 52-week high of $163.71. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $156.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $143.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last released its quarterly 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. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 21.43%. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Intercontinental Exchange will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 750 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.43, for a total transaction of $121,072.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,675,863.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 58,389 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.68, for a total transaction of $8,272,553.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,179,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,181,408.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.43, for a total transaction of $121,072.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,675,863.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,268 shares of company stock worth $9,508,809 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 7.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,776,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,978,218,000 after acquiring an additional 3,536,913 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew 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 increased its stake 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 valued at $1,238,559,000 after purchasing an additional 2,530,119 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 4.3% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,280,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $725,657,000 after buying an additional 218,516 shares during the period. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,696,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $645,434,000 after buying an additional 28,771 shares during the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.