Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Has $5.29 Million Stock Holdings in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lessened its stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 14.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,015 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $5,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. REAP Financial Group LLC grew its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 116.7% in the fourth quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Tsfg LLC grew its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 187.3% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 595.8% in the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Intercontinental Exchange

In other news, SVP Douglas Foley sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.48, for a total value of $283,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 27,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,847,511.24. This represents a 5.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.22, for a total transaction of $26,883,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,101,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,667,570.10. This represents a 6.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 226,119 shares of company stock worth $40,524,217. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on ICE. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America decreased 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. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $180.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $181.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Intercontinental Exchange has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $194.42.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

Shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock opened at $184.52 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.29 and a fifty-two week high of $185.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $179.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.17. The company has a market cap of $105.84 billion, a PE ratio of 38.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.11.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.02. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The firm 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 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.75%.

About Intercontinental Exchange

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.