Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Has $19.76 Million Stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Key Points

• Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 13.1% to 122,001 shares, valued at approximately $19.76 million per its latest SEC filing.
• ICE reported quarterly EPS of $2.35 (vs. $2.23 expected) and revenue of $3.67 billion, up 20.4% year‑over‑year, indicating a stronger-than-expected quarter.
• The stock carries a consensus "Buy" rating from analysts with a consensus target price of $194.10.

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 122,001 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,100 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co's holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $19,759,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Steph & Co. boosted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 104.7% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 174 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Dorato Capital Management bought a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ICE. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $201.00 target price (up from $198.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Friday. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Intercontinental Exchange from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $211.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Benjamin Jackson sold 3,865 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.73, for a total value of $594,166.45. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 165,304 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,412,183.92. This trade represents a 2.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 2,490 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total value of $383,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,262,566. This trade represents a 8.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 348,418 shares of company stock worth $54,196,631. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Up 0.2%

ICE stock opened at $155.04 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $160.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $160.01. 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 capitalization of $87.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.12. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 14.99% and a net margin of 30.06%.The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. The business's revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 8.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 16th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 16th. Intercontinental Exchange's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.28%.

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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