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

StockNews.com lowered shares of Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

ICE has been the topic of a number of other reports. Argus reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $153.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $168.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $152.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Citigroup raised 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their target price for the stock from $143.00 to $167.00 in a report on Monday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $154.93.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

NYSE ICE opened at $161.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Intercontinental Exchange has a twelve month low of $104.49 and a twelve month high of $163.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $152.59 and a 200 day moving average of $141.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.09, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.08.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 21.43%. The business’s revenue was up 22.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange will post 6.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 1,898 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.66, for a total value of $259,380.68. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 46,815 shares in the company, valued at $6,397,737.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 1,898 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.66, for a total value of $259,380.68. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 46,815 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,397,737.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 395 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $55,746.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 64,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,098,792.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,346 shares of company stock worth $9,472,911 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 3,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter valued at about $320,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 128.3% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,752 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter worth about $222,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

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.