Northern Trust Corp Acquires 655,247 Shares of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,422,007 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 655,247 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.29% of Intercontinental Exchange worth $1,105,953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ICE. Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 1,349 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Commons Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Commons Capital LLC now owns 5,949 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $886,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,190 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $475,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 1,970 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 3,121 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $465,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $190.00 to $189.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $237.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised 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 given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $184.64.

Insider Activity at Intercontinental Exchange

In other news, SVP Douglas Foley sold 10,580 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.47, for a total transaction of $1,761,252.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 21,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,661,008.24. This represents a 32.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Judith A. Sprieser sold 2,630 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total value of $418,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,396,876. This trade represents a 10.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 62,931 shares of company stock worth $10,492,868. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock traded up $2.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $173.29. 2,921,438 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,928,957. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $166.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $160.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.39 and a 12 month high of $177.45. The company has a market capitalization of $99.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.12.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Intercontinental Exchange's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.75%.

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.