Sentry Investment Management LLC Decreases Stake in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 323 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $386,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ICE. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 3.8% in the second quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 16,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,855,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 34,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,426,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc raised its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 17,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,839,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ICE shares. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Intercontinental Exchange from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $135.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Barclays raised their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $153.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $142.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.08.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Down 2.2 %

ICE opened at $130.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $74.77 billion, a PE ratio of 31.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $136.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a 52 week low of $103.81 and a 52 week high of $140.43.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last announced its quarterly 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. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 23.91%. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 24.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Intercontinental Exchange’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, President Benjamin Jackson sold 27,970 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 138,487 shares in the company, valued at $18,659,738.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Intercontinental Exchange news, President Benjamin Jackson sold 27,970 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.74, for a total transaction of $3,768,677.80. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 138,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,659,738.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO James W. Namkung sold 1,182 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.03, for a total value of $156,059.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 16,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,164,763.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 157,491 shares of company stock worth $21,454,204. 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.