Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE Stake Increased by Aberdeen Group plc

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. by 45.7%, acquiring an additional 212,031 shares to reach a total of 675,905 shares, valued at approximately $116.41 million.
• Analysts have generally a positive outlook on the company, with price targets raised by several firms, including UBS Group and Piper Sandler, noting a consensus target price of $194.92.
• Intercontinental Exchange recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, equating to an annualized dividend of $1.92 and a yield of 1.1%.

Aberdeen Group plc boosted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 45.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 675,905 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 212,031 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned approximately 0.12% of Intercontinental Exchange worth $116,414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Governors Lane LP raised its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 88.0% during the 4th quarter. Governors Lane LP now owns 127,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $18,939,000 after purchasing an additional 59,500 shares in the last quarter. Tema Etfs LLC bought a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,107,000. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the first quarter valued at approximately $349,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 18.3% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,168 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,879 shares during the period. Finally, Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,949,000. Institutional investors own 89.30% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Intercontinental Exchange

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, CAO James W. Namkung sold 612 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $110,160.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 13,220 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,379,600. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.09, for a total value of $27,463,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,951,705 shares in the company, valued at $357,337,668.45. This represents a 7.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 443,488 shares of company stock worth $80,323,823 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock traded down $1.56 on Friday, reaching $181.12. 2,840,944 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,090,302. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm's 50-day moving average is $182.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.60. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.29 and a 52 week high of $189.35. The company has a market capitalization of $103.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.11.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.04. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 13.66% and a net margin of 23.92%. The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Intercontinental Exchange's payout ratio is 36.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ICE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $180.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group increased their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $181.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $194.92.

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.