Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) was the target of a significant 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 trading volume, of 2,770,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Intercontinental Exchange stock traded up $0.51 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $161.15. The company had a trading volume of 3,076,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,498,945. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $157.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.72. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 395 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $55,746.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 64,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,098,792.23. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 395 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $55,746.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 64,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,098,792.23. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 58,389 shares of the company’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 owns 1,179,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,181,408.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,316 shares of company stock worth $9,835,609 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. American National Bank lifted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 13.8% in the second quarter. American National Bank now owns 569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 3.4% during the second quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.8% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 4,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 4.8% during the second quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 1,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. now owns 15,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,031,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ICE shares. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $182.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Intercontinental Exchange from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $143.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $152.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.