Milford Funds Ltd. Takes Position in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Milford Funds Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 155,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $25,116,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 191,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,041,000 after buying an additional 10,742 shares in the last quarter. M&G PLC lifted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 18.4% during the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 107,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,988,000 after purchasing an additional 16,635 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the third quarter worth approximately $2,788,000. Dover Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the third quarter worth approximately $710,000. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC lifted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 284.5% during the third quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC now owns 43,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,098,000 after purchasing an additional 32,295 shares in the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ICE. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $201.00 target price (up from $198.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $211.00 price target (up from $195.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $177.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.00.

Insider Activity

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 4,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.56, for a total value of $693,083.88. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 45,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,891,887.88. This represents a 9.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sharon Bowen sold 667 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total transaction of $100,903.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,280,848.56. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 12,092 shares of company stock worth $1,860,424 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:ICE opened at $140.26 on Friday. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 52 week low of $136.67 and a 52 week high of $189.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $79.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.42, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $154.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $159.27.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.12. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 30.06% and a return on equity of 14.99%. The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

About Intercontinental Exchange

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) is a global operator of exchanges, clearing houses and data services that provides infrastructure for the trading, clearing, settlement and information needs of financial and commodity markets. Founded in 2000 by Jeffrey C. Sprecher as an electronic energy trading platform, the company has grown through organic expansion and acquisitions to operate a broad portfolio of assets spanning listed equities, futures and options, fixed income, and over-the-counter derivatives.