FIL Ltd Acquires 211,008 Shares of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,842,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 211,008 shares during the period. FIL Ltd owned 0.32% of Intercontinental Exchange worth $274,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ICE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,228,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,782,521,000 after purchasing an additional 538,670 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,883,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,765,317,000 after purchasing an additional 327,637 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,196,258,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,265,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $865,455,000 after purchasing an additional 390,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,940,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $587,166,000 after buying an additional 11,767 shares during the period. 89.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ICE. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $178.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $179.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Benjamin Jackson sold 7,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.43, for a total value of $1,354,297.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 147,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,247,181.82. This represents a 5.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Douglas Foley sold 10,580 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.47, for a total transaction of $1,761,252.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,992 shares in the company, valued at $3,661,008.24. The trade was a 32.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,563 shares of company stock worth $10,998,990 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

NYSE ICE opened at $154.53 on Tuesday. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.34 and a twelve month high of $177.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $168.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $160.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $88.78 billion, a PE ratio of 32.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.09.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.01). Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 23.42%. On average, research analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 16th. Intercontinental Exchange’s payout ratio is 40.17%.

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.