Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 712,179 Shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. by 1.4%, now owning approximately 9.23% of the company, valued at over $9 billion.
• Multiple hedge funds, including Governors Lane LP, have significantly expanded their holdings in Intercontinental Exchange, indicating increased institutional interest in the company.
• Wall Street analysts have revised their price targets for Intercontinental Exchange, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $194.92.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,940,356 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 712,179 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.23% of Intercontinental Exchange worth $9,132,211,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ICE. Governors Lane LP lifted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 88.0% during the 4th quarter. Governors Lane LP now owns 127,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $18,939,000 after buying an additional 59,500 shares in the last quarter. Tema Etfs LLC bought a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter worth about $1,107,000. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the 1st quarter worth about $349,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,168 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,099,000 after buying an additional 1,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter worth about $28,949,000. 89.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ICE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $180.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $181.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $194.92.

Insider Transactions at Intercontinental Exchange

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, CAO James W. Namkung sold 612 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $110,160.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 13,220 shares in the company, valued at $2,379,600. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sharon Bowen sold 794 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total transaction of $146,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 14,206 shares in the company, valued at $2,628,110. This represents a 5.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 226,913 shares of company stock valued at $40,671,107. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ICE traded down $1.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $186.53. 2,783,624 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,563,729. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $106.77 billion, a PE ratio of 35.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.11. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $181.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $172.52. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.29 and a 1-year high of $189.35.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.04. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 23.92% and a return on equity of 13.66%. The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Intercontinental Exchange's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.85%.

Intercontinental Exchange Profile

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.