Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) CFO Warren Gardiner Sells 2,490 Shares

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) CFO Warren Gardiner sold 2,490 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,679 shares in the company, valued at $4,262,566. The trade was a 8.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Shares of ICE stock opened at $154.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $87.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.02. 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 50-day simple moving average of $164.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.54. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 52 week low of $143.17 and a 52 week high of $189.35.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 26.23% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The company 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 is Wednesday, December 16th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cambient Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter worth approximately $256,000. Compound Planning Inc. lifted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 5,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Claris Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter valued at $216,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,991,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $484,446,000 after purchasing an additional 45,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rare Wolf Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter valued at $659,000. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Intercontinental Exchange

Here are the key news stories impacting Intercontinental Exchange this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Kraken integration — Kraken has integrated with ICE Chat to expand institutional OTC crypto access, which advances ICE’s push into crypto infrastructure and could boost trading/data volumes over time. Kraken Integrates with ICE Chat
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals & analyst support — ICE recently reported an EPS beat and revenue above expectations, continues to pay a quarterly dividend, and retains a mostly positive analyst consensus/price targets, providing fundamental support under the stock. MarketBeat Coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Pune office lease — ICE’s India arm leased space for a global capability center in Pune (commercial real estate move that supports operations expansion but is not material to near-term earnings). ICE leases Pune GCC space
• Neutral Sentiment: Small institutional flows — Recent filings show many small, new institutional stakes; institutional ownership remains high (~89%), but recent buys/sells cited are immaterial at scale. Institutional activity
• Negative Sentiment: Large CEO selling — CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold significant blocks of shares (reported filings show ~150,000 and ~129,937-share dispositions around Feb 18). Large CEO sales are the most likely proximate cause of today’s negative sentiment. CEO SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: CTO sale — CTO Mayur Kapani sold 15,213 shares (~$2.36M) on Feb 18, a ~19% reduction in his holding. CTO SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Other executive selling — Additional insider sales reported: President Benjamin Jackson (3,865 sh), CFO Warren Gardiner (2,490 sh), and insider Christopher Scott Edmonds (11,303 sh). These clustered sales amplify negative investor perception even though executives retain sizable holdings. President SEC filing CFO SEC filing Insider Edmonds SEC filing

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on ICE shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Monday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $183.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $202.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $195.40.

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.