Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Purchases 352,345 Shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management more than doubled its stake in Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter, buying 352,345 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 685,020 shares worth about $110.9 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains mostly positive, with ICE carrying an average “Buy” rating and a consensus target price of $194.10. Several firms recently reiterated or raised targets, including UBS at $200 and Piper Sandler at $211.
• Intercontinental Exchange posted strong quarterly results, reporting EPS of $2.35 versus $2.23 expected and revenue of $3.67 billion, up 20.4% year over year. Despite solid fundamentals, insiders have sold shares recently, including 330,835 shares over the last 90 days.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 105.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 685,020 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 352,345 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. owned about 0.12% of Intercontinental Exchange worth $110,946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dash Acquisitions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 71,315 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,756,000 after purchasing an additional 4,720 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 765,802 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $124,034,000 after purchasing an additional 47,473 shares during the period. Conning Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 30,985 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,018,000 after purchasing an additional 3,571 shares during the period. Simmons Bank increased its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 32,569 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,275,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,605 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $908,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ICE has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Monday, February 9th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $211.00 price objective (up from $195.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $188.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 6th. One research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $194.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intercontinental Exchange

In other news, insider Lynn C. Martin sold 13,456 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.86, for a total transaction of $2,070,340.16. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 54,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,357,521.34. The trade was a 19.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Benjamin Jackson sold 3,865 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.73, for a total transaction of $594,166.45. Following the sale, the president owned 165,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,412,183.92. This trade represents a 2.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 330,835 shares of company stock worth $51,275,650 in the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

Shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock opened at $154.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $159.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.94. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a twelve month low of $143.17 and a twelve month high of $189.35. The firm has a market cap of $87.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.96.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.12. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 30.06% and a return on equity of 14.99%. The business had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.72 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange 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.

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.