Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) Shares Bought by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 202,578 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,922 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $30,186,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on ICE. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $181.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $189.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America dropped their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $237.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Intercontinental Exchange from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $185.93.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ICE traded down $0.54 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $176.21. The stock had a trading volume of 2,106,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,971,698. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $101.08 billion, a PE ratio of 36.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.12. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a one year low of $131.79 and a one year high of $179.44. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $167.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.42.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Intercontinental Exchange's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Judith A. Sprieser sold 2,630 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total transaction of $418,170.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,364 shares in the company, valued at $3,396,876. This represents a 10.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Benjamin Jackson sold 17,104 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.62, for a total value of $2,849,868.48. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 155,174 shares in the company, valued at $25,855,091.88. This represents a 9.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,468 shares of company stock worth $5,763,545 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Intercontinental Exchange

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.