California Public Employees Retirement System Decreases Position in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Key Points

• California Public Employees Retirement System cut its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 11.7% in Q3, selling 208,284 shares and now holding 1,572,122 shares (about 0.28%) valued at roughly $264.9 million.
• Company insiders have been net sellers — including Christopher Scott Edmonds and CTO Mayur Kapani — with insiders selling 348,418 shares worth $54.2 million over the past 90 days, leaving insiders owning about 1% of the stock.
• ICE beat estimates on its most recent quarter (EPS $1.71 vs. $1.67; revenue $3.14B vs. $2.51B), pays a $0.52 quarterly dividend (≈1.3% yield), and carries a consensus analyst rating of Buy with an average price target of $194.73.

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,572,122 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 208,284 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.28% of Intercontinental Exchange worth $264,871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. ICONIQ Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 2.2% in the second quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC now owns 2,621 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 5.0% during the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,207 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 0.5% during the third quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 13,766 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,319,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 59.5% in the 3rd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. now owns 2,248 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.30% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Christopher Scott Edmonds sold 11,303 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.82, for a total transaction of $1,738,627.46. Following the sale, the insider owned 14,266 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,194,396.12. The trade was a 44.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 15,213 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.02, for a total value of $2,358,319.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 64,869 shares in the company, valued at $10,055,992.38. This represents a 19.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 348,418 shares of company stock worth $54,196,631 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of ICE opened at $159.12 on Friday. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 52-week low of $143.17 and a 52-week high of $189.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $162.21. The company has a market capitalization of $90.36 billion, a PE ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 16th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 16th. Intercontinental Exchange's payout ratio is presently 36.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on ICE. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $183.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. 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 research report on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays set a $193.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $194.73.

Intercontinental Exchange Company 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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