Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Key Points

• Nisa Investment Advisors trimmed its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 36.8% in Q4, selling 108,984 shares and leaving it with 187,159 shares worth about $30.31 million.
• Several large institutions materially increased positions—Wellington, Sands, Mawer, Waverton and Arrowstreet all added shares—and institutional/hedge-fund ownership stands at about 89.3% of the stock.
• Analysts are broadly positive (consensus Buy, $194.73 price target), while ICE recently beat EPS and revenue estimates (Q: $1.71 EPS vs $1.67 est; revenue $3.14B vs $2.51B) and pays a $0.52 quarterly dividend (1.3% yield).

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 36.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 187,159 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 108,984 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $30,312,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 64.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,354,224 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,744,480,000 after buying an additional 4,067,922 shares during the period. Sands Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 97.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 5,313,039 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $974,783,000 after acquiring an additional 2,620,310 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 179.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,472,366 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $416,544,000 after acquiring an additional 1,586,620 shares during the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 28,886.8% in the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,526,734 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $257,163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,521,467 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 55.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,781,542 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $510,330,000 after acquiring an additional 994,316 shares during the period. 89.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ICE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $188.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $211.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Barclays set a $193.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Monday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $194.73.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Up 0.0%

Intercontinental Exchange stock opened at $156.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $143.17 and a fifty-two week high of $189.35. The stock has a market cap of $89.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.21, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.03. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $161.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.63.

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

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Lynn C. Martin sold 13,456 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.86, for a total value of $2,070,340.16. Following the transaction, the insider owned 54,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,357,521.34. This represents a 19.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 15,213 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.02, for a total value of $2,358,319.26. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 64,869 shares in the company, valued at $10,055,992.38. The trade was a 19.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 348,418 shares of company stock valued at $54,196,631 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company 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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