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

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) was upgraded by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $167.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $143.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 22.00% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. StockNews.com lowered Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Bank of America lowered their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target 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. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $147.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.29.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

ICE opened at $136.89 on Monday. Intercontinental Exchange has a 12-month low of $104.49 and a 12-month high of $140.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $134.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $132.90. The company has a market capitalization of $78.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.40, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Insider Activity at Intercontinental Exchange

In other news, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 341 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $44,923.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 48,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,417,450.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 341 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $44,923.34. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 48,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,417,450.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 58,388 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.21, for a total transaction of $8,011,417.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,179,895 shares in the company, valued at $161,893,392.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 62,894 shares of company stock valued at $8,620,792 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ICE. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 1,018.8% in the first quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors 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.