By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE – Get Free Report) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.01), Zacks reports. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 21.31% and a return on equity of 12.75%.
Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance
Shares of ICE stock traded up $6.67 on Thursday, hitting $167.37. 4,412,720 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,096,782. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Intercontinental Exchange has a 52 week low of $124.34 and a 52 week high of $169.75. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.74. The firm has a market cap of $96.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.66, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.11.
Intercontinental Exchange Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This is a positive change from Intercontinental Exchange’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.65%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 5,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.59, for a total transaction of $835,506.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 66,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,821,819.32. This represents a 7.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Stuart Glen Williams sold 750 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total transaction of $114,742.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 12,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,955,212.20. This represents a 5.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 13,795 shares of company stock valued at $2,120,572. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms have recently commented on ICE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Raymond James lowered Intercontinental Exchange from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.27.
View Our Latest Report on Intercontinental Exchange
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.
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