Great Lakes Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 807,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,661 shares during the quarter. Intercontinental Exchange accounts for about 1.1% of Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $130,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ICE. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,418,228,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 64.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,354,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,744,480,000 after acquiring an additional 4,067,922 shares during the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 28,886.8% during the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,526,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $257,163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,521,467 shares during the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter valued at about $213,286,000. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 43.3% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,527,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $571,252,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064,967 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

ICE opened at $138.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $78.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.23, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50 day moving average is $154.58 and its 200 day moving average is $159.41. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 12-month low of $136.67 and a 12-month high of $189.35.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.88 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 30.06% and a return on equity of 14.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.72 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intercontinental Exchange

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 2,490 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.64, for a total transaction of $390,033.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 25,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,945,604.96. The trade was a 9.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 4,271 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.42, for a total transaction of $663,798.82. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 64,869 shares in the company, valued at $10,081,939.98. This represents a 6.18% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,092 shares of company stock worth $1,860,424. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ICE. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $188.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $177.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.00.

Intercontinental Exchange Company 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.