AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Sells 60,989 Shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Key Points

• AustralianSuper Pty Ltd reduced its Intercontinental Exchange stake by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 60,989 shares and leaving it with 258,000 shares valued at about $41.8 million.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish on ICE, with a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $194.10. Recent firms including Piper Sandler, Barclays, and Deutsche Bank either reiterated or upgraded positive views.
• Intercontinental Exchange posted strong quarterly results, reporting EPS of $2.35 versus the $2.23 estimate and revenue of $3.67 billion, up 20.4% year over year. The company also noted that insiders sold 330,835 shares over the last 90 days.

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 258,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 60,989 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd's holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $41,786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Steph & Co. grew its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 104.7% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 174 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Dorato Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the third quarter valued at $32,000. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ICE shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $211.00 target price (up from $195.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $201.00 target price (up from $198.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $194.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, insider Christopher Scott Edmonds sold 11,303 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.82, for a total value of $1,738,627.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 14,266 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,194,396.12. The trade was a 44.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Lynn C. Martin sold 13,456 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.86, for a total value of $2,070,340.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 54,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,357,521.34. This represents a 19.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 330,835 shares of company stock worth $51,275,650. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ICE opened at $155.65 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $159.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $159.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $88.02 billion, a PE ratio of 22.66, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.96. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 52-week low of $143.17 and a 52-week high of $189.35.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.88 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 30.06% and a return on equity of 14.99%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

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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