Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 203,228 Shares of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,957,966 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 203,228 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.53% of Intercontinental Exchange worth $379,892,000 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 stock. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. 89.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on ICE. StockNews.com upgraded Intercontinental Exchange from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $142.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $153.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Intercontinental Exchange presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $148.08.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 58,388 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.21, for a total transaction of $8,011,417.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,179,895 shares in the company, valued at $161,893,392.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Intercontinental Exchange news, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 58,388 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.21, for a total transaction of $8,011,417.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,179,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at $161,893,392.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.83, for a total value of $69,415.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,326 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,544,198.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 157,491 shares of company stock valued at $21,454,204 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE ICE traded down $0.92 during trading on Monday, hitting $130.78. The company had a trading volume of 1,557,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,376,438. The company's fifty day moving average is $135.86 and its 200-day moving average is $125.38. The company has a market cap of $74.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a one year low of $103.81 and a one year high of $140.43.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 23.91% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. Intercontinental Exchange's revenue was up 24.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Intercontinental Exchange's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. Intercontinental Exchange's payout ratio is currently 42.86%.

Intercontinental Exchange 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ICE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.