Financial Enhancement Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Financial Enhancement Group LLC increased its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 85,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,723 shares during the period. Intercontinental Exchange makes up approximately 1.3% of Financial Enhancement Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Financial Enhancement Group LLC’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $10,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Brooklands Fund Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Steph & Co. increased its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 104.7% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ICE. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $182.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $187.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $177.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price (up from $190.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $183.33.

Intercontinental Exchange Trading Down 1.8%

ICE opened at $149.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $83.71 billion, a PE ratio of 21.06, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The business has a 50 day moving average of $139.42 and a 200-day moving average of $153.33. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 52 week low of $121.79 and a 52 week high of $189.35.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 30.08%.The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 4,271 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.42, for a total value of $663,798.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 64,869 shares in the company, valued at $10,081,939.98. This trade represents a 6.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sharon Bowen sold 667 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total transaction of $100,903.76. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,280,848.56. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,425 shares of company stock valued at $2,046,324. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

About Intercontinental Exchange

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.