Larson Financial Group LLC Raises Stake in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 2,704.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,003 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 2.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,919,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,162,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012,034 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 219.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,146,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,336,371,000 after acquiring an additional 8,348,126 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 3.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,567,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $832,623,000 after acquiring an additional 282,963 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 21.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,073,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $668,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 3.7% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,847,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $533,292,000 after purchasing an additional 173,236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ICE. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $135.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $154.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.08.

Insider Transactions at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, insider Elizabeth Kathryn King sold 3,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.03, for a total transaction of $499,469.49. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,276,461.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Elizabeth Kathryn King sold 3,783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.03, for a total value of $499,469.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,242 shares in the company, valued at $2,276,461.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 500 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.83, for a total transaction of $69,415.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,544,198.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 157,491 shares of company stock valued at $21,454,204 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Intercontinental Exchange stock opened at $132.35 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a 12 month low of $103.81 and a 12 month high of $140.43. The company has a market cap of $75.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $136.16 and its 200-day moving average is $124.95.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.04. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 23.91% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. Intercontinental Exchange’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Intercontinental Exchange’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Intercontinental Exchange’s payout ratio is currently 42.86%.

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.