Egerton Capital UK LLP Trims Stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Egerton Capital UK LLP lowered its position in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,036,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 43,712 shares during the quarter. Intercontinental Exchange comprises approximately 1.8% of Egerton Capital UK LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Egerton Capital UK LLP owned approximately 0.18% of Intercontinental Exchange worth $174,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 3rd quarter valued at $897,000. Rockland Trust Co. raised its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 19.7% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 127,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,507,000 after purchasing an additional 20,981 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 37.7% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,008,000 after purchasing an additional 3,261 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 203,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,325,000 after purchasing an additional 25,980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 831,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $152,603,000 after purchasing an additional 13,497 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on ICE shares. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $211.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Barclays set a $193.00 price objective on Intercontinental Exchange and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $183.00 target price on Intercontinental Exchange and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $195.40.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE ICE opened at $164.05 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $93.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.02. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $143.17 and a fifty-two week high of $189.35. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.57. 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 (NYSE:ICE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 13.99% and a net margin of 26.23%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast 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 Thursday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 16th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Intercontinental Exchange’s payout ratio is presently 33.28%.

Insider Activity at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total value of $23,250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,651,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,014,275. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 15,213 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.02, for a total value of $2,358,319.26. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 64,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,055,992.38. The trade was a 19.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 354,492 shares of company stock valued at $55,139,102 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.