Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE Shares Acquired by Advisors Preferred LLC

Advisors Preferred LLC lifted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 284.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,295 shares during the period. Intercontinental Exchange comprises about 1.0% of Advisors Preferred LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Advisors Preferred LLC’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $7,098,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,685,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,849,677,000 after acquiring an additional 745,135 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 1.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,438,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,270,657,000 after purchasing an additional 145,961 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the second quarter worth $1,542,780,000. Sands Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 97.3% during the second quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 5,313,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $974,783,000 after purchasing an additional 2,620,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 4.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,510,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $644,096,000 after purchasing an additional 137,685 shares during the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Intercontinental Exchange News Summary

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

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ICE opened at $154.00 on Friday. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 12-month low of $143.17 and a 12-month high of $189.35. The company has a market cap of $87.45 billion, a PE ratio of 26.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $164.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 16th. Intercontinental Exchange’s payout ratio is currently 33.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ICE has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays set a $193.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $183.00 price target on Intercontinental Exchange and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $195.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Christopher Scott Edmonds sold 11,303 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.82, for a total value of $1,738,627.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 14,266 shares in the company, valued at $2,194,396.12. This represents a 44.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Benjamin Jackson sold 3,865 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $25,412,183.92. The trade was a 2.28% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 341,036 shares of company stock valued at $53,068,762. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.