Port Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Port Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 360,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $44,384,000. Intercontinental Exchange accounts for 1.8% of Port Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the second quarter worth $26,000. Brooklands Fund Management Ltd bought a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. purchased a new position in Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ICE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $208.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 price target on Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $177.00 price objective on Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Intercontinental Exchange from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Intercontinental Exchange has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $183.33.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

Shares of ICE opened at $162.01 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $151.48. The firm has a market cap of $90.95 billion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 1-year low of $121.79 and a 1-year high of $179.20.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.63 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 30.08%.Intercontinental Exchange’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.81 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intercontinental Exchange

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 2,491 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.30, for a total value of $389,343.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,547,697.40. This trade represents a 9.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 4,271 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.20, for a total transaction of $645,775.20. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 67,988 shares in the company, valued at $10,279,785.60. This represents a 5.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,227 shares of company stock worth $2,598,301. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.