Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Decreases Position in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lessened its stake in Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 18.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,907 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $8,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ICE. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 17,398.1% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 54,107,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,763,214,000 after buying an additional 53,798,055 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,418,228,000. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new stake in Intercontinental Exchange during the fourth quarter valued at about $777,926,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 64.7% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 4,067,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 148.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,203,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $519,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,914,851 shares during the period. 89.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

NYSE:ICE traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $134.91. 3,013,578 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,842,965. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $142.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $155.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $76.29 billion, a PE ratio of 19.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.94. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a 12-month low of $121.79 and a 12-month high of $189.35.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 8.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Headlines Impacting Intercontinental Exchange

Here are the key news stories impacting Intercontinental Exchange this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays reiterated an Overweight view and raised its price target to $180, while UBS and Goldman Sachs recently also issued bullish targets, signaling Wall Street still sees upside in ICE’s core exchange and data businesses.
• Positive Sentiment: Social-media and market commentary continue to highlight ICE’s strong earnings growth, relatively low valuation versus peers, and expansion initiatives in futures and tokenized equities, which support the long-term bull case.
• Neutral Sentiment: ICE’s coffee futures market is in the spotlight after the company raised margin requirements for coffee trading, contributing to sharp swings in arabica and robusta coffee prices. That move is boosting attention on ICE’s role in commodities markets, though the direct stock impact is less clear.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary also notes ICE’s Q1 revenue grew 13.5% year over year to about $3.7 billion, showing the business remains fundamentally healthy ahead of its next earnings update.
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley cut its price target to $163 from $187 and kept an Equal Weight rating, reflecting more cautious near-term expectations for the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts have also pointed to softer June volume trends and weaker trading activity in some futures segments, which has led to estimate cuts and is weighing on investor sentiment before ICE’s late-July earnings report.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling remains a mild overhang, with ICE executives and directors having made no open-market purchases over the past six months.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ICE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $208.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $193.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Raymond James Financial set a $208.00 target price on Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $187.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $211.00 price target (up from $195.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $183.33.

Insider Transactions at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, Director Sharon Bowen sold 667 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value of $100,903.76. Following the sale, the director owned 15,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,280,848.56. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 4,573 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction 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 sale, the general counsel directly owned 45,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,891,887.88. This represents a 9.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,425 shares of company stock valued at $2,046,324. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.