Great Lakes Advisors LLC Invests $106.17 Million in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 862,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $106,166,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ICE. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Brooklands Fund Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE ICE opened at $156.30 on Wednesday. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 12-month low of $121.79 and a 12-month high of $181.72. The stock has a market cap of $87.75 billion, a PE ratio of 22.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 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. The company has a 50-day moving average of $141.20 and a 200 day moving average of $151.86.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 14.95%. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 8.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Intercontinental Exchange

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 4,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.56, for a total value of $693,083.88. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 45,473 shares in the company, valued at $6,891,887.88. This represents a 9.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 4,271 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.20, for a total value of $645,775.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 67,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,279,785.60. This trade represents a 5.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,376 shares of company stock valued at $2,746,946. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ICE. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $182.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $187.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $177.00 target price on Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $178.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $183.33.

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.