Jeffrey C. Sprecher Sells 66,575 Shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) Stock

Key Points

• CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 66,575 shares of Intercontinental Exchange at an average price of $183.09, amounting to over $12 million, which decreased his ownership by 5.41%.
• Intercontinental Exchange reported $1.81 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and marking a 9.8% year-over-year revenue increase to $3.26 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.1%, and a payout ratio of 36.85%.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 66,575 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.09, for a total transaction of $12,189,216.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,162,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $212,932,022.19. This represents a 5.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

ICE traded down $1.56 on Friday, reaching $181.12. 2,840,944 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,072,402. The stock has a market cap of $103.68 billion, a PE ratio of 34.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.11. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.29 and a twelve month high of $189.35. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $182.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

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

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Intercontinental Exchange's payout ratio is currently 36.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ICE shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $181.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $180.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group raised their price target 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. Barclays raised their price target 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $194.92.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ICE. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,448 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $514,000 after purchasing an additional 1,169 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 12,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,797,000 after buying an additional 1,725 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 106,001 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $15,795,000 after buying an additional 2,605 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 38,780 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,779,000 after buying an additional 8,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,556 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.