Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Raises Stock Position in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ICE. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,651,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,799,393,000 after buying an additional 281,503 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,555,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,848,868,000 after buying an additional 169,922 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 44.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,846,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,260,449,000 after buying an additional 2,401,630 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 4.0% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 7,838,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,259,213,000 after buying an additional 299,037 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 8.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,265,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $865,455,000 after buying an additional 390,332 shares during the period. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:ICE opened at $168.04 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $155.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $158.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.15, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.34 and a 1 year high of $169.78.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.01). Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 12.95%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 6.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 16th. Intercontinental Exchange’s payout ratio is currently 40.17%.

Insider Activity at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, President Benjamin Jackson sold 17,104 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.62, for a total transaction of $2,849,868.48. Following the sale, the president now owns 155,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,855,091.88. This trade represents a 9.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher Scott Edmonds sold 6,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.99, for a total value of $1,141,209.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,001,144.28. The trade was a 27.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,196 shares of company stock valued at $10,840,972 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays upped their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $179.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Intercontinental Exchange from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $178.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.80.

About Intercontinental Exchange

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of market infrastructure, data services, and technology solutions for financial institutions, corporations, and government entities in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Singapore, India, Abu Dhabi, Israel, and Canada.