Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Cuts Stock Position in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership decreased its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 25.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,803,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 622,384 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 0.32% of Intercontinental Exchange worth $283,712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,153,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,770,647,000 after buying an additional 413,639 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 17,398.1% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 54,107,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,763,214,000 after purchasing an additional 53,798,055 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,653,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,154,914,000 after purchasing an additional 837,208 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,875,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,571,212,000 after buying an additional 158,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter valued at $1,418,228,000. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:ICE opened at $145.93 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $82.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.94. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.79 and a 52-week high of $189.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $139.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.08.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.12. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 30.06% and a return on equity of 14.99%. The company had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 2,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.64, for a total value of $390,033.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 25,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,945,604.96. This represents a 9.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 4,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.56, for a total transaction 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,425 shares of company stock worth $2,046,324. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $187.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $208.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $201.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $193.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.58.

Intercontinental Exchange Company 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.