Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Invests $255,000 in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. RB Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 4,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. United Bank grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 15,988 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,112,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 13.5% during the 1st quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 31.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 204,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,077,000 after acquiring an additional 49,081 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,679,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Intercontinental Exchange

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.83, for a total transaction of $69,415.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,544,198.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Intercontinental Exchange news, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.83, for a total transaction of $69,415.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,544,198.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 58,388 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.21, for a total transaction of $8,011,417.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,179,895 shares in the company, valued at $161,893,392.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 157,491 shares of company stock valued at $21,454,204 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $154.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $142.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.08.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ICE traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $131.21. The company had a trading volume of 2,263,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,162,513. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.42. The stock has a market cap of $75.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.02. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a 52-week low of $103.81 and a 52-week high of $140.43.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 23.91% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The company’s revenue was up 24.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. This is an increase from Intercontinental Exchange’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.86%.

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.