Ethos Capital Management Inc. Takes $1.36 Million Position in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Key Points

• Ethos Capital bought a new Q4 stake of 8,399 shares in Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) valued at about $1.36 million, and institutional investors now own roughly 89.3% of the stock.
• Analysts give ICE an overall Buy rating with an average price target of $191.20, driven by several recent upgrades (e.g., Deutsche Bank raising to Buy and multiple overweight/buy notes).
• ICE posted an earnings beat—EPS $1.71 vs. $1.67 expected—and revenue of $3.14 billion vs. $2.51 billion expected (revenue +7.8% YoY); the company pays a $0.52 quarterly dividend (~1.3% yield).

Ethos Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,399 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,360,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,816,744 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,181,125,000 after purchasing an additional 194,325 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 64.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,354,224 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,744,480,000 after acquiring an additional 4,067,922 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,028,964 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,184,238,000 after acquiring an additional 928,047 shares in the last quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 5,677,266 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $956,506,000 after acquiring an additional 364,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,967,071 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $836,852,000 after acquiring an additional 148,923 shares in the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ICE has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Intercontinental Exchange from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $183.00 price objective on Intercontinental Exchange and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Intercontinental Exchange from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $188.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $195.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays set a $193.00 price objective on Intercontinental Exchange and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Intercontinental Exchange currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $191.20.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock opened at $166.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $94.13 billion, a PE ratio of 28.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 12 month low of $143.17 and a 12 month high of $189.35.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.51 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 13.99% and a net margin of 26.23%.Intercontinental Exchange's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 16th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 16th. Intercontinental Exchange's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 2,490 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Benjamin Jackson sold 3,865 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.73, for a total value of $594,166.45. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 165,304 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,412,183.92. This trade represents a 2.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 348,418 shares of company stock valued at $54,196,631 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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