Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE Position Reduced by First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. reduced its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,594 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $4,770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ICE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 1.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,685,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,849,677,000 after purchasing an additional 745,135 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 1.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,438,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,270,657,000 after buying an additional 145,961 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Intercontinental Exchange during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,542,780,000. Sands Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 97.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 5,313,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $974,783,000 after acquiring an additional 2,620,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,510,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $644,096,000 after acquiring an additional 137,685 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ICE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays set a $182.00 price objective on Intercontinental Exchange and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $193.50.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Down 0.8%

ICE stock opened at $172.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $143.17 and a fifty-two week high of $189.35. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $161.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.14. The stock has a market cap of $98.61 billion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.03.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 13.79%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. Intercontinental Exchange’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 150,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.08, for a total value of $22,962,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,801,705 shares in the company, valued at $275,805,001.40. This trade represents a 7.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 2,081 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.00, for a total value of $314,231.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 44,212 shares in the company, valued at $6,676,012. The trade was a 4.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 166,068 shares of company stock worth $25,470,702. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Intercontinental Exchange Company Profile

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) is a global operator of exchanges, clearing houses and data services that provides infrastructure for the trading, clearing, settlement and information needs of financial and commodity markets. Founded in 2000 by Jeffrey C. Sprecher as an electronic energy trading platform, the company has grown through organic expansion and acquisitions to operate a broad portfolio of assets spanning listed equities, futures and options, fixed income, and over-the-counter derivatives.