Aberdeen Group plc Cuts Stock Holdings in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc trimmed its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 2.7% in Q4, selling 16,229 shares and now holds 587,902 shares worth $95.217 million (about 0.10% of the company).
• Several large institutions added to positions—most notably Wellington Management raised its stake by 64.7% (+4,067,922 shares)—and hedge funds/institutions collectively own roughly 89.3% of ICE stock.
• ICE beat Q results (EPS $1.71 vs. $1.67 est.; revenue $3.14B vs. $2.51B, +7.8% YoY), carries a consensus analyst rating of "Buy" with a $191.20 target, a market cap of ~$92.3B and a ~1.3% dividend yield.

Aberdeen Group plc trimmed its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 587,902 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 16,229 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.10% of Intercontinental Exchange worth $95,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,816,744 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,181,125,000 after acquiring an additional 194,325 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 64.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,354,224 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,744,480,000 after buying an additional 4,067,922 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,028,964 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,184,238,000 after buying an additional 928,047 shares during the last quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 5,677,266 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $956,506,000 after purchasing an additional 364,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,967,071 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $836,852,000 after purchasing an additional 148,923 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $211.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $195.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Monday, February 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $191.20.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

NYSE ICE opened at $163.02 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $161.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $160.56. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 52-week low of $143.17 and a 52-week high of $189.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.03.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.51 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 26.23% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 16th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 16th. Intercontinental Exchange's payout ratio is presently 36.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Lynn C. Martin sold 13,456 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.86, for a total transaction of $2,070,340.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 54,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,357,521.34. The trade was a 19.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Benjamin Jackson sold 3,865 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.73, for a total transaction of $594,166.45. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 165,304 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,412,183.92. This represents a 2.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 348,418 shares of company stock worth $54,196,631. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Intercontinental Exchange Profile

Intercontinental Exchange NYSE: ICE is a global operator of exchanges, clearing houses and data services that provides infrastructure for the trading, clearing, settlement and information needs of financial and commodity markets. Founded in 2000 by Jeffrey C. Sprecher as an electronic energy trading platform, the company has grown through organic expansion and acquisitions to operate a broad portfolio of assets spanning listed equities, futures and options, fixed income, and over-the-counter derivatives.

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