Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) CEO Sells $23,250,000.00 in Stock

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) CEO Jeffrey Sprecher sold 150,000 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $23,250,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,651,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,014,275. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

Shares of ICE traded down $1.13 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $154.06. 3,726,714 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,237,940. The stock has a market cap of $87.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.70, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $164.94 and a 200-day moving average of $164.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 52 week low of $143.17 and a 52 week high of $189.35.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 13.99% and a net margin of 26.23%.The business’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 16th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compound Planning Inc. grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 5,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Claris Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter valued at about $216,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,991,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $484,446,000 after buying an additional 45,743 shares in the last quarter. Rare Wolf Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter worth approximately $659,000. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,560,000. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ICE. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $183.00 price target on Intercontinental Exchange and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Monday, February 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.40.

About Intercontinental Exchange

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) is a global operator of exchanges, clearing houses and data services that provides infrastructure for the trading, clearing, settlement and information needs of financial and commodity markets. Founded in 2000 by Jeffrey C. Sprecher as an electronic energy trading platform, the company has grown through organic expansion and acquisitions to operate a broad portfolio of assets spanning listed equities, futures and options, fixed income, and over-the-counter derivatives.