Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires 47,473 Shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Key Points

• Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 47,473 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 765,802 shares worth about $124.0 million.
• Intercontinental Exchange posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.35 beating estimates and revenue of $3.67 billion, up 20.4% year over year.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on ICE, with a consensus “Buy” rating and average price target of $194.10, even as some insiders sold shares during the last quarter.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 765,802 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 47,473 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.13% of Intercontinental Exchange worth $124,034,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange in the third quarter worth about $897,000. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 19.7% in the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 127,652 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $21,507,000 after purchasing an additional 20,981 shares during the last quarter. M&G PLC lifted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 18.4% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 107,070 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $17,988,000 after purchasing an additional 16,635 shares during the last quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. lifted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 15.9% in the third quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 31,506 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,308,000 after purchasing an additional 4,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 9.4% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 73,880 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,434,000 after purchasing an additional 6,325 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ICE. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Monday, February 9th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $201.00 target price (up from $198.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $194.10.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ICE opened at $155.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $88.02 billion, a PE ratio of 22.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.96. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $159.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.98. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a one year low of $143.17 and a one year high of $189.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

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

Insider Activity at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, insider Christopher Scott Edmonds sold 11,303 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 14,266 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,194,396.12. This trade represents a 44.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 4,571 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.00, for a total transaction of $740,502.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 48,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,805,322. The trade was a 8.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 330,835 shares of company stock valued at $51,275,650 over the last quarter. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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