Kestra Advisory Services LLC Raises Holdings in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 18.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 39,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,988 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $6,175,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ICE. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 17,398.1% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 54,107,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,763,214,000 after buying an additional 53,798,055 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter worth $1,418,228,000. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter valued at $777,926,000. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 148.6% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,203,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $519,701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,914,851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 569.8% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,210,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,142,000 after acquiring an additional 1,880,835 shares during the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ICE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $208.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $177.00 price objective on Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $201.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $183.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 4,271 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.42, for a total value of $663,798.82. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 64,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,081,939.98. The trade was a 6.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sharon Bowen sold 667 shares of the business’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 value of $100,903.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director 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. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,425 shares of company stock worth $2,046,324. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:ICE opened at $137.61 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $141.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.20. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 12-month low of $121.79 and a 12-month high of $189.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.88 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 14.99% and a net margin of 30.06%.Intercontinental Exchange’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 8.11 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.