Davidson Investment Advisors Purchases 27,726 Shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Key Points

• Davidson Investment Advisors raised its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 29.8%, buying 27,726 shares to own 120,838 shares valued at $19.57 million, and about 89.30% of ICE is owned by hedge funds and institutional investors.
• ICE beat expectations in the quarter with EPS of $1.71 (vs. $1.67 est.) and revenue of $3.14 billion (vs. $2.51B est.), and analysts have a consensus Buy rating with a $193.80 target price.
• Insiders have been net sellers recently—348,418 shares worth $54.2 million sold over the past 90 days—and the company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.52 (annualized $2.08), about a 1.3% yield.

Davidson Investment Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 29.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 120,838 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 27,726 shares during the period. Davidson Investment Advisors' holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $19,571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 182.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 8,072 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,308,000 after buying an additional 5,212 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 10,927 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,770,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. boosted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 8,477 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,373,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter valued at about $250,000. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC boosted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 18,436 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,228,000 after buying an additional 1,288 shares during the period. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Shares of ICE opened at $161.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a one year low of $143.17 and a one year high of $189.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $160.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.20 billion, a PE ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.03.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. Intercontinental Exchange's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 16th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Intercontinental Exchange's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, insider Christopher Scott Edmonds sold 11,303 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were 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 directly owned 14,266 shares in the company, valued at $2,194,396.12. This trade represents a 44.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 2,490 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total transaction of $383,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 27,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,262,566. This trade represents a 8.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 348,418 shares of company stock valued at $54,196,631 over the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on ICE. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $211.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $188.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, March 6th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $211.00 price target (up from $195.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $193.80.

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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