Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) Earns Outperform Rating from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $152.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on ICE. StockNews.com upgraded Intercontinental Exchange from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $154.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $142.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $146.69.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:ICE opened at $137.87 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $135.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Intercontinental Exchange has a 1-year low of $103.81 and a 1-year high of $140.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.83, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.02.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 23.91%. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is an increase from Intercontinental Exchange’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.86%.

Insider Activity at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, insider Elizabeth Kathryn King sold 3,783 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.03, for a total transaction of $499,469.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,276,461.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Elizabeth Kathryn King sold 3,783 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.03, for a total transaction of $499,469.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,276,461.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO James W. Namkung sold 1,182 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.03, for a total value of $156,059.46. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 16,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,164,763.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 157,491 shares of company stock worth $21,454,204 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC acquired a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 89.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.