Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Reduces Holdings in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 78.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 248,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 885,153 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $40,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ICONIQ Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC now owns 2,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 0.5% during the third quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 13,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,319,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 59.5% in the third quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 3.2% in the third quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. now owns 2,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 3.9% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $188.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $183.00 target price on Intercontinental Exchange and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Friday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Intercontinental Exchange has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $194.73.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

ICE stock opened at $156.83 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $89.06 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $163.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $161.23. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 12-month low of $143.17 and a 12-month high of $189.35.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 13.99% and a net margin of 26.23%.The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 16th will be given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 16th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Lynn C. Martin sold 13,456 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.86, for a total transaction of $2,070,340.16. Following the transaction, the insider owned 54,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,357,521.34. The trade was a 19.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 150,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $23,250,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,651,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,014,275. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 348,418 shares of company stock worth $54,196,631. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.