Welch & Forbes LLC Purchases New Stake in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Welch & Forbes LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ICE. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 4.3% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 41,212 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,534,000 after purchasing an additional 1,716 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 11.4% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $161,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 6.6% in the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 254,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,039,000 after acquiring an additional 15,877 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 3.4% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 134,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,788,000 after acquiring an additional 4,405 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 17.2% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 2,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ICE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $156.00 to $155.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.92.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

NYSE ICE traded down $0.53 on Wednesday, reaching $133.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 435,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,395,222. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a twelve month low of $103.81 and a twelve month high of $140.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $134.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.35. The stock has a market cap of $76.40 billion, a PE ratio of 30.67, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.02.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 12.76% and a net margin of 24.24%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 5.95 EPS for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 13th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 13th. Intercontinental Exchange’s payout ratio is currently 41.28%.

Insider Transactions at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 2,176 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.00, for a total value of $295,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 12,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,640,296. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, major shareholder Intercontinental Exchange, Inc bought 2,762,009 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $0.87 per share, for a total transaction of $2,402,947.83. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 7,476,345 shares in the company, valued at $6,504,420.15. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 2,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.00, for a total value of $295,936.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 12,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,640,296. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 157,832 shares of company stock valued at $21,499,127 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.