Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 649,648 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,753 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Intercontinental Exchange worth $112,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. REAP Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 116.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Tsfg LLC grew its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 187.3% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 158 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on ICE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $181.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $189.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $237.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Intercontinental Exchange presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $188.46.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE ICE opened at $183.11 on Friday. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.61 and a fifty-two week high of $183.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $105.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.91, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.11. The business's 50 day moving average price is $177.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.50.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 22.84%. The business's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. Intercontinental Exchange's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Douglas Foley sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.48, for a total value of $283,968.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 27,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,847,511.24. This represents a 5.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 150,000 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.22, for a total value of $26,883,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,101,705 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $376,667,570.10. This trade represents a 6.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 228,749 shares of company stock worth $40,942,387 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

About Intercontinental Exchange

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.

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