Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Cuts Holdings in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI decreased its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 46.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 28,265 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $5,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 17,398.1% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 54,107,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,763,214,000 after acquiring an additional 53,798,055 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter worth $1,418,228,000. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter worth $777,926,000. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 148.6% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,203,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $519,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,914,851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 569.8% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,210,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $358,142,000 after purchasing an additional 1,880,835 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

ICE opened at $134.91 on Monday. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.79 and a 52-week high of $189.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $76.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $142.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.55.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.12. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 30.06% and a return on equity of 14.99%. The business had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 8.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intercontinental Exchange

In other news, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 4,573 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.56, for a total value of $693,083.88. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 45,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,891,887.88. This represents a 9.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sharon Bowen sold 667 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value of $100,903.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,280,848.56. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,425 shares of company stock worth $2,046,324. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Intercontinental Exchange News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays reiterated an Overweight view and raised its price target to $180, while UBS and Goldman Sachs recently also issued bullish targets, signaling Wall Street still sees upside in ICE’s core exchange and data businesses.
• Positive Sentiment: Social-media and market commentary continue to highlight ICE’s strong earnings growth, relatively low valuation versus peers, and expansion initiatives in futures and tokenized equities, which support the long-term bull case.
• Neutral Sentiment: ICE’s coffee futures market is in the spotlight after the company raised margin requirements for coffee trading, contributing to sharp swings in arabica and robusta coffee prices. That move is boosting attention on ICE’s role in commodities markets, though the direct stock impact is less clear.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary also notes ICE’s Q1 revenue grew 13.5% year over year to about $3.7 billion, showing the business remains fundamentally healthy ahead of its next earnings update.
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley cut its price target to $163 from $187 and kept an Equal Weight rating, reflecting more cautious near-term expectations for the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts have also pointed to softer June volume trends and weaker trading activity in some futures segments, which has led to estimate cuts and is weighing on investor sentiment before ICE’s late-July earnings report.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling remains a mild overhang, with ICE executives and directors having made no open-market purchases over the past six months.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on ICE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Monday, July 6th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $193.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $177.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $183.33.

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.