Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Lowers Stake in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lessened its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,099 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,160 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $13,472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. REAP Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 116.7% in the 4th quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 169 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ICE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $237.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $189.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $188.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Judith A. Sprieser sold 2,630 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total value of $418,170.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,396,876. This represents a 10.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.22, for a total value of $26,883,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,101,705 shares in the company, valued at $376,667,570.10. This represents a 6.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 226,354 shares of company stock worth $40,512,695. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of ICE stock traded up $0.14 on Friday, hitting $178.70. The stock had a trading volume of 3,245,175 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,016,599. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.93 and a 12-month high of $180.89. The stock has a market cap of $102.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50 day moving average of $168.45 and a 200 day moving average of $163.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.44 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 23.42%. The company's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.48 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. Intercontinental Exchange's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.75%.

About Intercontinental Exchange

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.