Avanza Fonder AB Increases Stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Avanza Fonder AB increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 46,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,996 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $7,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 1,169 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 9.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,483,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 16.2% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 73.4% in the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 4,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,758 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC raised its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 38.9% in the second quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 959 shares in the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 2,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total value of $383,460.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,262,566. This represents a 8.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher Scott Edmonds sold 11,303 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider owned 14,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,194,396.12. This represents a 44.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 348,418 shares of company stock valued at $54,196,631 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on ICE shares. Morgan Stanley set a $183.00 price objective on Intercontinental Exchange and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $195.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Monday, February 9th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $211.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Intercontinental Exchange currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $194.73.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

ICE opened at $157.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $89.22 billion, a PE ratio of 27.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $163.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.39. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 1 year low of $143.17 and a 1 year high of $189.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 16th will be issued 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 1.3%. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.05%.

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.