Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. significantly increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. by 872.5%, acquiring an additional 425,528 shares in the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to approximately $81.8 million.
• Insider trading activity saw CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher and General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sell a combined total of 153,848 shares, amounting to over $27 million, indicating a 6.66% and a 7.35% decrease in their ownership, respectively.
• Intercontinental Exchange announced a quarterly dividend of $0.48, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.0%, while the company reported strong financial performance with a quarterly EPS of $1.81, surpassing analysts' expectations.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 872.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 474,297 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 425,528 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned 0.08% of Intercontinental Exchange worth $81,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fielder Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 2,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,639 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $973,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 430 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Values Added Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Values Added Financial LLC now owns 1,533 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 501 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

Shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock traded up $0.67 on Wednesday, hitting $188.07. 2,690,504 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,478,482. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.29 and a 52 week high of $189.23. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $181.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $171.90.

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

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Intercontinental Exchange's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ICE. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $181.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their price target 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 raised their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $194.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 3,848 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.12, for a total value of $689,253.76. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 48,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,683,737.60. The trade was a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sharon Bowen sold 794 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was 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. Insiders have sold a total of 226,913 shares of company stock valued at $40,671,107 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Company 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.