Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE Position Lessened by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. lowered its position in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 5.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 219,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,151 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $36,963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ICE. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 1,169 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,483,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 16.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 35.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 1,528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 11.8% in the second quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ICE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Intercontinental Exchange from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $202.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $211.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.40.

Insider Transactions at Intercontinental Exchange

In other news, insider Lynn C. Martin sold 13,456 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.86, for a total transaction of $2,070,340.16. Following the sale, the insider owned 54,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,357,521.34. This trade represents a 19.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 15,213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 64,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,055,992.38. The trade was a 19.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 354,492 shares of company stock worth $55,139,102. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of ICE stock opened at $162.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization 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. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 1 year low of $143.17 and a 1 year high of $189.35. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.72. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 26.23% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

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

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.