Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Increases Stock Position in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. by 31.8%, now owning 693,959 shares valued at approximately $119.7 million following the purchase of 167,500 additional shares.
• A variety of institutional investors have also drastically increased their holdings in Intercontinental Exchange, with Tsfg LLC and Activest Wealth Management increasing by up to 4,050% in the first quarter.
• Recent stock performance reports show Intercontinental Exchange reported $1.81 EPS, surpassing analysts' expectations, with quarterly revenue also significantly exceeding expectations at $3.26 billion.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 31.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 693,959 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 167,500 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.12% of Intercontinental Exchange worth $119,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ICE. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 491.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,433,497 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,109,780,000 after purchasing an additional 5,345,388 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 132.9% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,121,352 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,359,173,000 after purchasing an additional 5,204,309 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the first quarter worth approximately $575,383,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 113.9% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,943,363 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,025,230,000 after purchasing an additional 3,165,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 24,394.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,264,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,906,700,000 after purchasing an additional 2,255,507 shares during the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:ICE traded down $0.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $174.26. 3,104,192 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,714,532. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.10. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.29 and a 52-week high of $189.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business's fifty day moving average is $181.49 and its 200-day moving average is $174.77.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on ICE. Barclays upped their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $180.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Intercontinental Exchange has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $194.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.09, for a total transaction of $27,463,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,951,705 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $357,337,668.45. This represents a 7.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 1,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.45, for a total value of $280,166.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,106 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,944,815.70. This trade represents a 6.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 227,830 shares of company stock valued at $41,668,789. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.