Fayez Sarofim & Co Trims Stock Position in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Fayez Sarofim & Co cut its stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,015,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,289 shares during the quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co owned about 0.35% of Intercontinental Exchange worth $339,559,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the third quarter worth about $897,000. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 127,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,507,000 after acquiring an additional 20,981 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 37.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,008,000 after acquiring an additional 3,261 shares during the period. Eastern Bank grew its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 203,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,325,000 after acquiring an additional 25,980 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 831,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $152,603,000 after acquiring an additional 13,497 shares in the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ICE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed 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 report on Friday, February 6th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $183.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $194.73.

Insider Activity at Intercontinental Exchange

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 2,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total transaction of $383,460.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 27,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,262,566. This represents a 8.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lynn C. Martin sold 13,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.86, for a total transaction of $2,070,340.16. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 54,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,357,521.34. The trade was a 19.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 348,418 shares of company stock valued at $54,196,631 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE ICE opened at $159.12 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $164.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $162.11. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 52-week low of $143.17 and a 52-week high of $189.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $90.36 billion, a PE ratio of 27.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.04.

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. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 26.23% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The company had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

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

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.