Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.01), Zacks reports. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 21.31% and a return on equity of 12.75%.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

Shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock traded up $6.67 on Thursday, hitting $167.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,423,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,115,630. Intercontinental Exchange has a 52-week low of $124.34 and a 52-week high of $169.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $153.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.74. The company has a market capitalization of $96.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.11.

Intercontinental Exchange Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This is a positive change from Intercontinental Exchange’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Intercontinental Exchange’s payout ratio is currently 42.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on ICE shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $190.00 to $189.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.08, for a total transaction of $149,056.40. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 44,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,977,088.16. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Benjamin Jackson sold 5,828 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $932,480.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 156,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,986,080. This trade represents a 3.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,795 shares of company stock worth $2,120,572 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% 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.