Research analysts at Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on shares of Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Berenberg Bank’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 19.09% from the stock’s current price.
A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on ICE. Argus raised their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Co raised their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Zacks Investment Research raised Intercontinental Exchange from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Barclays raised their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Intercontinental Exchange has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.73.
Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE ICE) traded up $0.63 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $75.57. The company had a trading volume of 1,228,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,113,257. Intercontinental Exchange has a 12-month low of $56.80 and a 12-month high of $76.14. The firm has a market cap of $43,841.86, a PE ratio of 27.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.
Intercontinental Exchange declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.20 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.
In other Intercontinental Exchange news, CFO Scott A. Hill sold 7,526 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $564,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 202,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,177,825. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Dean S. Mathison sold 1,042 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.79, for a total value of $78,973.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,485 shares in the company, valued at $946,238.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 61,410 shares of company stock worth $4,436,172 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.
Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ICE. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1,254.2% in the 2nd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,048,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,480,000 after purchasing an additional 8,380,362 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC boosted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 39,517.6% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 1,481,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $97,647,000 after purchasing an additional 1,477,562 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,723,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $599,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,176,185 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 2nd quarter worth $69,836,000. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 3rd quarter worth $47,128,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.98% of the company’s stock.
About Intercontinental Exchange
Intercontinental Exchange Inc, formerly IntercontinentalExchange Group, Inc, is a network of regulated exchanges and clearing houses for financial and commodity markets. The Company delivers transparent and accessible data, technology and risk management services to markets around the world through its portfolio of exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange, ICE Futures, Liffe and Euronext.
