Hartford Investment Management Co. Decreases Stock Position in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its position in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 35,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 686 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $5,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Certuity LLC purchased a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter worth $224,000. Peterson Wealth Services increased its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 3,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter worth $208,000. Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 5,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $805,000 after buying an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 96,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,430,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the period. 89.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ICE shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays raised their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $179.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $190.00 to $189.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.80.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

NYSE:ICE opened at $166.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.11. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.34 and a 52-week high of $169.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $153.53 and a 200 day moving average of $157.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.01). Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 23.42%. On average, research analysts expect that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 16th. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Benjamin Jackson sold 5,828 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $932,480.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 156,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,986,080. The trade was a 3.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 955 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.08, for a total value of $149,056.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 44,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,977,088.16. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,358 shares of company stock valued at $5,535,650 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.