Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. Intercontinental Exchange makes up about 0.9% of Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $5,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,651,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,799,393,000 after purchasing an additional 281,503 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,555,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,848,868,000 after purchasing an additional 169,922 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 44.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,846,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,260,449,000 after purchasing an additional 2,401,630 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,265,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $865,455,000 after purchasing an additional 390,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,520,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $726,196,000 after purchasing an additional 3,460,096 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, insider Christopher Scott Edmonds sold 601 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.73, for a total value of $88,785.73. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,908,967.06. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Mayur Kapani sold 5,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.59, for a total transaction of $835,506.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 66,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,821,819.32. This represents a 7.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 66,563 shares of company stock valued at $10,998,990. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

Intercontinental Exchange stock opened at $174.42 on Friday. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.34 and a 52-week high of $175.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.49, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.01). Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 23.42%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 16th. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ICE has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $179.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $190.00 to $189.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $178.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.80.

Intercontinental Exchange Company 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.