New York State Common Retirement Fund Trims Stake in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 710,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,800 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.12% of Intercontinental Exchange worth $105,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 326.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,520,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $726,196,000 after buying an additional 3,460,096 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 44.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,846,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,260,449,000 after buying an additional 2,401,630 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 2,293.3% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,215,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $330,171,000 after buying an additional 2,123,185 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 285.9% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,756,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $282,148,000 after buying an additional 1,301,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 426.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 721,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,898,000 after buying an additional 584,400 shares in the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ICE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $178.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $179.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.80.

Insider Transactions at Intercontinental Exchange

In other news, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.08, for a total value of $149,056.40. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 44,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,977,088.16. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher Scott Edmonds sold 601 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.73, for a total value of $88,785.73. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,908,967.06. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,358 shares of company stock worth $5,535,650. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

ICE stock opened at $166.94 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $95.92 billion, a PE ratio of 34.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.11. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.34 and a 12 month high of $169.78. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $154.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 12.95%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 6.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 16th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Intercontinental Exchange’s payout ratio is 37.66%.

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.