Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) Lifted to “Buy” at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has $167.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $143.00.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. 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 research note on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Intercontinental Exchange from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a buy rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $151.29.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock opened at $141.14 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $134.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.06. Intercontinental Exchange has a 12 month low of $104.49 and a 12 month high of $141.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was sold at an average price of $136.66, for a total transaction of $259,380.68. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, major shareholder Intercontinental Exchange, Inc acquired 350,880 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $0.87 per share, for a total transaction of $305,265.60. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 649,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $565,442.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 1,898 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.66, for a total value of $259,380.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 46,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,397,737.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,506 shares of company stock worth $609,374 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds 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 holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,776,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,978,218,000 after purchasing an additional 3,536,913 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,397,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,105,994,000 after purchasing an additional 4,251,371 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,643,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,238,559,000 after purchasing an additional 2,530,119 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 8,429,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,082,646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,621,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter valued at about $839,259,000. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.