Brown Advisory Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 38,332 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,497 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.'s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $6,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 51.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,448 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 1,169 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,238 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 3,121 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $465,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 9,230 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,375,000 after purchasing an additional 2,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,248 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $782,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on ICE shares. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $237.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $181.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $192.58.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ICE traded down $1.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $180.45. 1,576,878 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,973,335. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.60. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.29 and a 1-year high of $183.99. The firm has a market cap of $103.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.11.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.02. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 22.84%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. Intercontinental Exchange's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. Intercontinental Exchange's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intercontinental Exchange

In other news, Director Sharon Bowen sold 795 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.30, for a total transaction of $145,723.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,749,500. The trade was a 5.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.12, for a total value of $689,253.76. Following the transaction, 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 228,749 shares of company stock worth $40,942,387. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Intercontinental Exchange 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.