Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,710,000 shares, a drop of 8.6% from the August 31st total of 6,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,770,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

NYSE ICE traded up $0.51 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $161.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,076,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,498,945. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $157.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.72. The firm has a market cap of $92.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.84, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. Intercontinental Exchange’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Intercontinental Exchange

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 2,048 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.57, for a total transaction of $326,799.36. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 44,865 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,159,108.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Intercontinental Exchange news, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 58,389 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 1,179,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,181,408.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 2,048 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.57, for a total value of $326,799.36. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 44,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,159,108.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,316 shares of company stock worth $9,835,609 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Intercontinental Exchange

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in 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 valued at $2,105,994,000 after buying an additional 4,251,371 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $6,978,218,000 after buying an additional 3,536,913 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in 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 valued at $1,238,559,000 after buying an additional 2,530,119 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 303.1% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,381,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $305,832,000 after buying an additional 1,790,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CCLA Investment Management boosted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 91,838.2% in the 1st quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 1,114,291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $152,923,000 after buying an additional 1,113,079 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ICE. StockNews.com downgraded Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Barclays raised their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $159.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen began coverage on Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $182.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. One equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.47.

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.