National Pension Service Buys 198,311 Shares of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 19.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,239,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 198,311 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.22% of Intercontinental Exchange worth $184,644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ICE. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 326.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,520,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $726,196,000 after buying an additional 3,460,096 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 44.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,846,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,260,449,000 after acquiring an additional 2,401,630 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 2,293.3% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,215,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $330,171,000 after acquiring an additional 2,123,185 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 285.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,756,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $282,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,265,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $865,455,000 after purchasing an additional 390,332 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $190.00 to $189.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $179.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Intercontinental Exchange 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 value of $2,849,868.48. Following the sale, the president now owns 155,174 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas Foley sold 10,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.47, for a total transaction of $1,761,252.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,661,008.24. This represents a 32.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,368 shares of company stock valued at $9,908,492 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

NYSE:ICE opened at $170.74 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.72, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.54. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.34 and a 1 year high of $172.63.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.01). Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 23.42%. Equities analysts forecast 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 Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 16th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. Intercontinental Exchange’s payout ratio is 40.17%.

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.