Venture Visionary Partners LLC Increases Stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Key Points

• Venture Visionary Partners LLC boosted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 342.6% in the fourth quarter, ending with 11,570 shares valued at about $1.87 million.
• Institutional ownership in ICE remains very high, with hedge funds and other investors holding 89.3% of the stock. Several other firms also increased positions, including PNC Financial Services, M&G PLC, and Vanguard.
• Insiders have recently been selling shares, including the general counsel and CTO, while analysts remain broadly positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and a target price of $193.

Venture Visionary Partners LLC lifted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 342.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,956 shares during the quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC's holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $1,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ICE. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 191,658 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,041,000 after buying an additional 10,742 shares during the period. M&G PLC increased its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 107,070 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $17,988,000 after buying an additional 16,635 shares during the period. Dover Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $710,000. Advisors Preferred LLC increased its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 284.5% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC now owns 43,645 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,098,000 after buying an additional 32,295 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,153,170 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,770,647,000 after buying an additional 413,639 shares during the period. 89.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 4,573 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.56, for a total transaction of $693,083.88. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 45,473 shares in the company, valued at $6,891,887.88. This trade represents a 9.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 4,271 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.42, for a total value of $663,798.82. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 64,869 shares in the company, valued at $10,081,939.98. This trade represents a 6.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,092 shares of company stock worth $1,860,424. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ICE has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $177.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $211.00 price objective (up from $195.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $193.00.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ICE opened at $139.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.36, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.92. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 12 month low of $136.67 and a 12 month high of $189.35. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $153.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.21. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $2.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $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 8.16 EPS for the current 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.

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