Intercontinental Exchange Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:ICE)

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 7,374 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 107% compared to the average daily volume of 3,568 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ICE. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price (up from $190.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $189.00 price objective (up from $182.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $178.00 price target (up from $169.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Intercontinental Exchange from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.31.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

Shares of ICE stock traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $154.92. 1,501,095 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,765,516. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $86.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $157.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.64. Intercontinental Exchange has a 12 month low of $121.79 and a 12 month high of $176.05.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.06. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 30.08%. The company had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.81 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Intercontinental Exchange will post 8.20 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, insider Christopher Edmonds sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.59, for a total value of $802,950.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at $2,307,196.53. This represents a 25.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Benjamin Jackson sold 12,862 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.09, for a total value of $2,059,077.58. Following the transaction, the president owned 164,264 shares in the company, valued at $26,297,023.76. This trade represents a 7.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,179 shares of company stock valued at $6,473,715. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ICE. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Intercontinental Exchange during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,245,085,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,966,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,196,758,000 after purchasing an additional 415,490 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,812,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,454,209,000 after purchasing an additional 1,634,385 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 2nd quarter worth $714,869,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,298,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $652,257,000 after purchasing an additional 52,910 shares during the period. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Intercontinental Exchange

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc (NYSE:ICE) is a global operator of exchanges, clearinghouses, data services and technology platforms. The company owns and operates the New York Stock Exchange and other exchanges serving equity, options, futures and over-the-counter markets. Its marketplaces support trading in areas including energy, agricultural commodities, interest rates, currencies, equity indexes and individual stocks.

ICE also provides clearing and settlement services that help manage counterparty and transaction risk, along with market data, analytics, connectivity and other technology solutions for financial institutions and businesses.