Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) Shares Purchased by LPL Financial LLC

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. by 6.0%, now holding approximately 482,151 shares valued at $83.17 million.
• Institutional investors own 89.30% of Intercontinental Exchange's stock, with various funds significantly increasing their positions in recent quarters.
• Analysts have raised target prices for Intercontinental Exchange, with Morgan Stanley setting a new target of $192.00 and Barclays at $206.00, reflecting positive sentiment towards the stock.

LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 6.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 482,151 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 27,443 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Intercontinental Exchange worth $83,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tsfg LLC boosted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 187.3% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 158 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 595.8% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 167 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. REAP Financial Group LLC raised 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. Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 89.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 3,848 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.12, for a total transaction of $689,253.76. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 48,480 shares in the company, valued at $8,683,737.60. The trade was a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sharon Bowen sold 795 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.30, for a total transaction of $145,723.50. Following the sale, the director owned 15,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,749,500. This trade represents a 5.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 226,913 shares of company stock worth $40,671,107 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ICE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $181.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays raised their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $180.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $194.92.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

Shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock traded down $0.35 on Friday, hitting $184.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,795,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,132,621. The company has a market capitalization of $105.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.11. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.29 and a 52-week high of $187.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $180.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

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

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Intercontinental Exchange's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.75%.

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.