AE Wealth Management LLC Trims Stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Key Points

• AE Wealth Management cut its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 38.9% in Q4, selling 108,434 shares and finishing the period with 170,024 shares valued at $27.537 million.
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently — Lynn C. Martin sold 13,456 shares at $153.86 and General Counsel Andrew Surdykowski sold 4,571 shares at $162, with insiders offloading 348,418 shares (about $54.2M) over the past three months.
• Analysts remain generally positive, with an average "Buy" rating and a mean price target of $193.80, and ICE recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates.

AE Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 38.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 170,024 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 108,434 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $27,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $897,000. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 127,652 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,507,000 after acquiring an additional 20,981 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 37.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,920 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,008,000 after acquiring an additional 3,261 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank lifted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 203,731 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,325,000 after acquiring an additional 25,980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC lifted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 107,070 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $17,988,000 after acquiring an additional 16,635 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.30% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Lynn C. Martin sold 13,456 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the insider owned 54,319 shares in the company, valued at $8,357,521.34. This represents a 19.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 4,571 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.00, for a total value of $740,502.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 48,181 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,805,322. The trade was a 8.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 348,418 shares of company stock worth $54,196,631. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ICE shares. Wall Street Zen raised Intercontinental Exchange from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Intercontinental Exchange from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $188.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $193.80.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE ICE opened at $161.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $91.20 billion, a PE ratio of 27.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $159.84 and a 200 day moving average of $160.19. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 1 year low of $143.17 and a 1 year 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.

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

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

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

About Intercontinental Exchange

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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