Howard Capital Management Group LLC Sells 3,262 Shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Howard Capital Management Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 204,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,262 shares during the period. Intercontinental Exchange makes up about 2.1% of Howard Capital Management Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Howard Capital Management Group LLC’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $33,148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,816,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,181,125,000 after acquiring an additional 194,325 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 64.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,354,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,744,480,000 after acquiring an additional 4,067,922 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,028,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,184,238,000 after acquiring an additional 928,047 shares in the last quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 5,677,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $956,506,000 after purchasing an additional 364,227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,967,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $836,852,000 after purchasing an additional 148,923 shares during the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $23,250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,651,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,014,275. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher Scott Edmonds sold 11,303 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.82, for a total value of $1,738,627.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 14,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,194,396.12. This trade represents a 44.21% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 348,418 shares of company stock worth $54,196,631. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Up 3.1%

Intercontinental Exchange stock opened at $163.02 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $161.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $160.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a twelve month low of $143.17 and a twelve month high of $189.35. The company has a market capitalization of $92.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.03.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 26.23% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The company had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Intercontinental Exchange’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 16th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 16th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Intercontinental Exchange’s payout ratio is presently 36.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ICE. Barclays set a $193.00 price objective on Intercontinental Exchange and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $188.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 6th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $211.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Monday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $191.20.

Intercontinental Exchange Profile

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.