Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Key Points

• Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. by 3.5%, selling 6,957 shares and now holding 194,423 shares valued at approximately $33.5 million.
• The firm reported a strong quarterly performance with earnings per share of $1.81, surpassing estimates and a revenue increase of 9.8% year-over-year.
• Intercontinental Exchange will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share on September 30th, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 1.1%.

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 194,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,957 shares during the period. Intercontinental Exchange comprises 1.3% of Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC's holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $33,538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ICE. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 132.9% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,121,352 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,359,173,000 after purchasing an additional 5,204,309 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 423.8% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 4,546,437 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $677,465,000 after purchasing an additional 3,678,384 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the 1st quarter valued at $575,383,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 24,394.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,264,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,906,700,000 after purchasing an additional 2,255,507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 50.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,933,532 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,023,534,000 after acquiring an additional 1,993,084 shares in the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sharon Bowen sold 794 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total transaction of $146,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 14,206 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,628,110. The trade was a 5.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 3,848 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.12, for a total value of $689,253.76. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 48,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,683,737.60. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 443,488 shares of company stock valued at $80,323,823. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Down 0.9%

ICE stock traded down $1.56 on Friday, hitting $181.12. 2,840,944 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,072,402. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.29 and a 12-month high of $189.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $182.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.50. 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 stock has a market cap 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Intercontinental Exchange's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on ICE shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $180.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays boosted their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. UBS Group boosted their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $181.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $194.92.

Intercontinental Exchange Company Profile

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.