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

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders purchased 7,374 put options on the company. This is an increase of 107% compared to the typical volume of 3,568 put options.

Insider Transactions at Intercontinental Exchange

In other news, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 4,271 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.20, for a total transaction of $645,775.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 67,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,279,785.60. This trade represents a 5.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas Foley sold 7,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.88, for a total transaction of $1,086,824.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,838,099.44. This represents a 27.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,179 shares of company stock worth $6,473,715. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. James T. Borello RIA raised its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 143.0% during the third quarter. James T. Borello RIA now owns 209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. William Mack & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 33.5% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ICE shares. TD Cowen raised their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $166.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Argus lowered their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $190.00 to $187.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 14th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price target (up from $190.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.31.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Down 0.3%

Intercontinental Exchange stock traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $154.92. The stock had a trading volume of 1,501,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,765,516. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $157.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.64. The stock has a market cap of $86.97 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Intercontinental Exchange has a 52 week low of $121.79 and a 52 week high of $176.05.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 30.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.81 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange will post 8.20 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Company Profile

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.