Rockland Trust Co. Buys 20,981 Shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Rockland Trust Co. increased its position in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 19.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 127,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,981 shares during the quarter. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $21,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,685,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,849,677,000 after purchasing an additional 745,135 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Intercontinental Exchange during the second quarter worth about $1,542,780,000. Sands Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on ICE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $202.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $211.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 target price on Intercontinental Exchange and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $195.10.

Insider Activity at Intercontinental Exchange

In other news, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 1,572 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.65, for a total transaction of $241,537.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 20,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,155,049.10. This represents a 7.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Judith A. Sprieser sold 4,722 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.19, for a total transaction of $798,915.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,747 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,094.93. This represents a 32.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 168,709 shares of company stock worth $25,955,387 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of ICE opened at $169.47 on Tuesday. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $143.17 and a fifty-two week high of $189.35. The firm has a market cap of $96.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.37, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $165.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 26.23% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 16th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 16th. Intercontinental Exchange’s payout ratio is 33.28%.

Intercontinental Exchange 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.