Ninety One North America Inc. Purchases 19,298 Shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Key Points

• Ninety One North America boosted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) by 299.7% in Q4, purchasing 19,298 shares to hold 25,737 shares valued at about $4.17 million.
• Insiders have been net sellers recently — a total of 348,418 shares sold worth roughly $54.2 million over the last 90 days, leaving insiders with just 0.84% ownership.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly positive with a consensus rating of Buy and a $193.80 average price target, and ICE recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue expectations.

Ninety One North America Inc. increased its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 299.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,737 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,298 shares during the period. Ninety One North America Inc.'s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $4,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Intercontinental Exchange during the third quarter valued at $897,000. Rockland Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 127,652 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $21,507,000 after buying an additional 20,981 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 37.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,920 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,008,000 after buying an additional 3,261 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank grew its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 203,731 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,325,000 after buying an additional 25,980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC grew its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 107,070 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $17,988,000 after buying an additional 16,635 shares in the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 4,571 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.00, for a total transaction of $740,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 48,181 shares in the company, valued at $7,805,322. This trade represents a 8.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher Scott Edmonds sold 11,303 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.82, for a total transaction of $1,738,627.46. Following the sale, the insider owned 14,266 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,194,396.12. The trade was a 44.21% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 348,418 shares of company stock worth $54,196,631 over the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of 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. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $211.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $193.80.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

ICE stock opened at $161.00 on Friday. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 12 month low of $143.17 and a 12 month high of $189.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $159.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $160.19. The stock has a market cap of $91.20 billion, a PE ratio of 27.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.03.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 26.23% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 16th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Intercontinental Exchange's payout ratio is currently 36.05%.

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.

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