FIL Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

FIL Ltd lifted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 12.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,842,729 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 211,008 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd owned about 0.32% of Intercontinental Exchange worth $274,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Intercontinental Exchange

In other news, SVP Douglas Foley sold 10,580 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.47, for a total value of $1,761,252.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,992 shares in the company, valued at $3,661,008.24. This represents a 32.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 5,661 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.59, for a total transaction of $835,506.99. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 66,548 shares in the company, valued at $9,821,819.32. The trade was a 7.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,563 shares of company stock valued at $10,998,990. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on ICE. StockNews.com upgraded Intercontinental Exchange from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $179.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $237.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $182.47.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

ICE traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $155.92. 2,786,452 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,917,672. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $167.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $160.54. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.34 and a 52-week high of $177.45. The company has a market capitalization of $89.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.62, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.01). Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 12.95%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 16th. Intercontinental Exchange's payout ratio is 40.17%.

About Intercontinental Exchange

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.