HTLF Bank Takes $403,000 Position in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

HTLF Bank bought a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 3,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $403,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 2.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,919,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,162,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012,034 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 25,406,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,606,466,000 after buying an additional 4,044,744 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 45.5% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,114,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,755,753,000 after buying an additional 5,354,161 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 219.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,146,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,336,371,000 after purchasing an additional 8,348,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,503,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,092,660,000 after purchasing an additional 127,481 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Benjamin Jackson sold 27,970 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.74, for a total value of $3,768,677.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 138,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,659,738.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Intercontinental Exchange news, major shareholder Intercontinental Exchange, Inc purchased 2,762,009 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $0.87 per share, with a total value of $2,402,947.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,476,345 shares in the company, valued at $6,504,420.15. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Benjamin Jackson sold 27,970 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.74, for a total transaction of $3,768,677.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 138,487 shares in the company, valued at $18,659,738.38. 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 three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ICE. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Raymond James raised their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $154.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Intercontinental Exchange currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.08.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

ICE stock opened at $131.20 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $136.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.42. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a 1 year low of $103.81 and a 1 year high of $140.43. The stock has a market cap of $75.13 billion, a PE ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 23.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from Intercontinental Exchange’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Intercontinental Exchange’s payout ratio is presently 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.