Invesco Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Invesco Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 23.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,613,746 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,390,841 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.80% of Intercontinental Exchange worth $687,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 1,349 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Commons Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Commons Capital LLC now owns 5,949 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $886,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,190 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $475,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 1,970 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 3,121 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $465,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ICE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $178.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays increased their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $190.00 to $189.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $182.47.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Shares of ICE stock traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $155.92. 2,786,452 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,917,672. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.34 and a 12 month high of $177.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $167.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $160.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.57 billion, a PE ratio of 32.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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, research analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Benjamin Jackson sold 5,828 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.71, for a total transaction of $965,757.88. Following the sale, the president now owns 164,041 shares in the company, valued at $27,183,234.11. This trade represents a 3.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher Scott Edmonds sold 6,834 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.99, for a total transaction of $1,141,209.66. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,972 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,001,144.28. The trade was a 27.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 66,563 shares of company stock worth $10,998,990. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Intercontinental Exchange 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.