Man Group plc Grows Stake in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Man Group plc grew its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 88.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 209,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 98,437 shares during the period. Man Group plc’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $31,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ICE. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ICE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $189.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $237.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $190.00 to $189.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.93.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Intercontinental Exchange stock opened at $174.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $167.15 and a 200-day moving average of $161.20. The firm has a market cap of $100.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.12. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.79 and a 1-year high of $179.44.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.02. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. Intercontinental Exchange’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. Intercontinental Exchange’s payout ratio is currently 39.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Benjamin Jackson sold 7,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.43, for a total value of $1,354,297.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 147,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,247,181.82. This represents a 5.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Judith A. Sprieser sold 2,630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total transaction of $418,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,396,876. This trade represents a 10.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,368 shares of company stock valued at $7,077,789 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Company 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.