Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE Shares Purchased by Markel Group Inc.

Markel Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 38.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,870 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,000 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc.'s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $4,541,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ICE. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Steph & Co. grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 104.7% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 174 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Brooklands Fund Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new position in Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.30% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sharon Bowen sold 667 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total transaction of $100,903.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,077 shares in the company, valued at $2,280,848.56. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director William Jefferson Hague sold 1,333 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.46, for a total transaction of $185,900.18. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,807,608.72. The trade was a 6.21% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 13,425 shares of company stock valued at $2,046,324 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE ICE traded down $0.20 on Friday, reaching $134.91. 3,013,578 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,842,965. 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 business's fifty day moving average price is $142.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $155.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.94. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $121.79 and a fifty-two week high of $189.35.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.88 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 14.99% and a net margin of 30.06%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. Analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 8.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ICE. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $208.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $177.00 target price on Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Monday, July 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $183.33.

More Intercontinental Exchange News

Here are the key news stories impacting Intercontinental Exchange this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays reiterated an Overweight view and raised its price target to $180, while UBS and Goldman Sachs recently also issued bullish targets, signaling Wall Street still sees upside in ICE’s core exchange and data businesses.
• Positive Sentiment: Social-media and market commentary continue to highlight ICE’s strong earnings growth, relatively low valuation versus peers, and expansion initiatives in futures and tokenized equities, which support the long-term bull case.
• Neutral Sentiment: ICE’s coffee futures market is in the spotlight after the company raised margin requirements for coffee trading, contributing to sharp swings in arabica and robusta coffee prices. That move is boosting attention on ICE’s role in commodities markets, though the direct stock impact is less clear.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary also notes ICE’s Q1 revenue grew 13.5% year over year to about $3.7 billion, showing the business remains fundamentally healthy ahead of its next earnings update.
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley cut its price target to $163 from $187 and kept an Equal Weight rating, reflecting more cautious near-term expectations for the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts have also pointed to softer June volume trends and weaker trading activity in some futures segments, which has led to estimate cuts and is weighing on investor sentiment before ICE’s late-July earnings report.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling remains a mild overhang, with ICE executives and directors having made no open-market purchases over the past six months.

About Intercontinental Exchange

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ICE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.