Level Four Advisory Services LLC Raises Stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Key Points

• Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. by 5.6%, owning 53,440 shares valued at $9.2 million as of the most recent reporting period.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their price targets for Intercontinental Exchange, with a consensus target of $194.92 and a majority rating the stock as a "Moderate Buy."
• Intercontinental Exchange reported a 9.8% year-over-year revenue increase, with quarterly earnings exceeding expectations at $1.81 per share.

Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 5.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,440 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,822 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $9,218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ICE. Tsfg LLC raised its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 187.3% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 158 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 595.8% during the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 167 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 116.7% in the 4th quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 169 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the first quarter worth about $31,000. 89.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ICE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $181.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $180.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $194.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sharon Bowen sold 795 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.30, for a total value of $145,723.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,749,500. The trade was a 5.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO James W. Namkung sold 612 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $110,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 13,220 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,379,600. This represents a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 443,488 shares of company stock valued at $80,323,823. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE ICE opened at $178.0380 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $101.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.11. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $182.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.29 and a 52-week high of $189.35.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 23.92% and a return on equity of 13.66%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Intercontinental Exchange's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.85%.

Intercontinental Exchange Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.