Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 6,113 Shares of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Financial Counselors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 56.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,113 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,228,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,782,521,000 after purchasing an additional 538,670 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 1.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,555,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,848,868,000 after acquiring an additional 169,922 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 390,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,460,096 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ICE shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $178.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $190.00 to $189.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $179.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.80.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

ICE opened at $174.65 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $167.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $160.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.08. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.34 and a 52-week high of $177.45.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.01). Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 23.42%. As a group, analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 16th. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intercontinental Exchange

In other news, President Benjamin Jackson sold 7,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.43, for a total value of $1,354,297.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 147,274 shares in the company, valued at $25,247,181.82. This represents a 5.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Douglas Foley sold 10,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.47, for a total transaction of $1,761,252.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,661,008.24. The trade was a 32.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,563 shares of company stock valued at $10,998,990. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Intercontinental Exchange Company Profile

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.