Empowered Funds LLC Takes Position in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC acquired 36,285 shares of Intercontinental Exchange, valued at approximately $4.47 million, while institutional investors collectively own 89.3% of ICE’s outstanding stock.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $183.33, despite some firms lowering their targets.
• ICE reported quarterly EPS of $1.90, beating estimates of $1.84, while revenue rose 4.8% year over year to $3.61 billion. Shares recently opened at $160.74, and insiders have sold $3.55 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 36,285 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,467,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 17,398.1% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 54,107,273 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,763,214,000 after acquiring an additional 53,798,055 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,245,085,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,653,952 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,154,914,000 after purchasing an additional 837,208 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,875,593 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,571,212,000 after purchasing an additional 158,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,418,228,000. 89.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 4,574 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.77, for a total value of $739,935.98. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 43,065 shares in the company, valued at $6,966,625.05. The trade was a 9.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas Foley sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $256,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 17,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,794,080. The trade was a 8.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 23,141 shares of company stock valued at $3,554,192 in the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ICE. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $187.00 to $163.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $208.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price target (up from $190.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $183.33.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock opened at $160.74 on Tuesday. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 12-month low of $121.79 and a 12-month high of $177.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $90.24 billion, a PE ratio of 22.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average of $145.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $151.35.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 14.95%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.81 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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