Findlay Park Partners LLP Trims Holdings in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Findlay Park Partners LLP reduced its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 1.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 971,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,600 shares during the quarter. Intercontinental Exchange accounts for about 1.7% of Findlay Park Partners LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Findlay Park Partners LLP’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $163,740,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the 2nd quarter worth $1,542,780,000. Sands Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 97.3% in the second quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 5,313,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $974,783,000 after buying an additional 2,620,310 shares in the last quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S raised its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 29,199.5% in the second quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 1,652,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $303,129,000 after buying an additional 1,646,562 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 179.1% in the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,472,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $416,544,000 after buying an additional 1,586,620 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 55.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,781,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $510,330,000 after acquiring an additional 994,316 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Shares of ICE stock opened at $164.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $93.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.02. 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 one year low of $143.17 and a one year high of $189.35. The company’s 50-day moving average is $164.47 and its 200 day moving average is $163.57.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 26.23% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 16th. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio is 33.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, President Benjamin Jackson sold 12,861 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $2,122,065.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 165,692 shares in the company, valued at $27,339,180. The trade was a 7.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 150,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 1,651,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,014,275. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 354,492 shares of company stock valued at $55,139,102 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ICE shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $202.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Barclays set a $193.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $195.40.

Intercontinental Exchange Profile

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.