Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) Given New $153.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) had its price target decreased by Bank of America from $156.00 to $153.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Intercontinental Exchange has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $148.08.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

NYSE ICE opened at $131.20 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $136.27 and a 200-day moving average of $124.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $75.13 billion, a PE ratio of 31.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.02. Intercontinental Exchange has a 52-week low of $103.81 and a 52-week high of $140.43.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 23.91% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. Intercontinental Exchange’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange will post 5.98 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Intercontinental Exchange’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 58,388 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $161,893,392.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, major shareholder Intercontinental Exchange, Inc purchased 2,762,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $0.87 per share, for a total transaction of $2,402,947.83. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,476,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,504,420.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 58,388 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.21, for a total transaction of $8,011,417.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,179,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $161,893,392.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 157,491 shares of company stock worth $21,454,204 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Intercontinental Exchange

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 56,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,311,000 after acquiring an additional 12,208 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 126,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,956,000 after acquiring an additional 8,320 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,235,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $158,738,000 after acquiring an additional 105,042 shares in the last quarter. First County Bank CT increased its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 3,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIC Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter valued at $221,000. Institutional investors own 89.30% 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.