Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) Shares Bought by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $1,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 1,470.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the third quarter worth $26,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 106.1% in the third quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ICE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $178.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $179.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.80.

Insider Activity

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 955 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.08, for a total transaction of $149,056.40. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 44,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,977,088.16. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Benjamin Jackson sold 5,828 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $932,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 156,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,986,080. The trade was a 3.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 13,795 shares of company stock valued at $2,120,572. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ICE opened at $166.95 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $95.86 billion, a PE ratio of 34.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.11. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.34 and a fifty-two week high of $169.75. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

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

Intercontinental Exchange Profile

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.