Plato Investment Management Ltd Grows Position in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 33.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,025 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $3,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,651,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,799,393,000 after acquiring an additional 281,503 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 worth $1,848,868,000 after acquiring an additional 169,922 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 44.1% during the 3rd 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. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 7,838,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,259,213,000 after acquiring an additional 299,037 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted 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 worth $865,455,000 after acquiring an additional 390,332 shares during the period. 89.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on ICE shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays raised 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Three 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 stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.80.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Shares of ICE stock opened at $173.21 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $157.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $158.81. The stock has a market cap of $99.52 billion, a PE ratio of 36.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.11. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.34 and a 1 year high of $173.54. 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 (NYSE:ICE) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 16th. Intercontinental Exchange’s payout ratio is 40.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, President Benjamin Jackson sold 7,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.43, for a total transaction of $1,354,297.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 147,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,247,181.82. This trade represents a 5.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Stuart Glen Williams sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total value of $114,742.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,955,212.20. The trade was a 5.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 68,268 shares of company stock valued at $11,262,789. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.