Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Increases Holdings in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,665 shares during the period. Intercontinental Exchange comprises 1.2% of Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $10,661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ICE. PDS Planning Inc increased its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 3.8% in the third quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 3,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 4.3% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 41,212 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,534,000 after purchasing an additional 1,716 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 124,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,643,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 3.2% during the third quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Management now owns 11,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,295,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the period. Finally, Toews Corp ADV purchased a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the third quarter valued at $781,000. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ICE. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $154.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Intercontinental Exchange has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.08.

Insider Transactions at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.83, for a total transaction of $69,415.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,326 shares in the company, valued at $2,544,198.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Intercontinental Exchange news, insider Lynn C. Martin sold 3,772 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.59, for a total transaction of $515,217.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 58,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,058,673.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.83, for a total transaction of $69,415.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,544,198.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 157,491 shares of company stock valued at $21,454,204 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

Shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock traded down $0.88 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $129.90. 713,992 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,355,751. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $74.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.14, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $135.74 and its 200-day moving average is $125.52. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a 52 week low of $103.81 and a 52 week high of $140.43.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 23.91% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a boost from Intercontinental Exchange’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend 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.