Erste Asset Management GmbH Decreases Holdings in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Erste Asset Management GmbH reduced its position in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 162,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 44,730 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $27,236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ICE. Optivise Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 3.1% in the second quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC now owns 2,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Ledyard National Bank grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 1,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC now owns 5,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $933,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on ICE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $202.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Monday, February 9th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays set a $193.00 price target on Intercontinental Exchange and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $195.40.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE ICE opened at $162.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $92.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 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. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 1 year low of $143.17 and a 1 year high of $189.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $164.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $163.72.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last issued 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 return on equity of 13.99% and a net margin of 26.23%.The company had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Intercontinental Exchange’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 15,213 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,055,992.38. This trade represents a 19.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Benjamin Jackson sold 3,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.73, for a total transaction of $594,166.45. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 165,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,412,183.92. This trade represents a 2.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 354,492 shares of company stock worth $55,139,102 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.