Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 23,611 Shares of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 296,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,611 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.05% of Intercontinental Exchange worth $38,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Valmark Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $341,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter worth $608,000. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange in the fourth quarter valued at $216,000. Finally, Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $623,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James upped their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $154.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.08.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

NYSE ICE opened at $130.78 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $74.89 billion, a PE ratio of 31.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a 52-week low of $103.81 and a 52-week high of $140.43. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $125.52.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 23.91% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The company’s revenue was up 24.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Intercontinental Exchange

In other news, insider Elizabeth Kathryn King sold 3,783 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.03, for a total transaction of $499,469.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 17,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,276,461.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Intercontinental Exchange news, President Benjamin Jackson sold 27,970 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the president now owns 138,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,659,738.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Elizabeth Kathryn King sold 3,783 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.03, for a total value of $499,469.49. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,276,461.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 157,491 shares of company stock worth $21,454,204 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.