Appleton Partners Inc. MA Trims Stock Position in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA trimmed its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 105,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,475 shares during the period. Intercontinental Exchange comprises approximately 1.2% of Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $15,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 326.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,520,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $726,196,000 after purchasing an additional 3,460,096 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 44.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,846,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,260,449,000 after buying an additional 2,401,630 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 2,293.3% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,215,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $330,171,000 after buying an additional 2,123,185 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 285.9% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,756,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $282,148,000 after buying an additional 1,301,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 426.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 721,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,898,000 after buying an additional 584,400 shares during the period. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James cut shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $179.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Intercontinental Exchange has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.80.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

NYSE:ICE opened at $166.95 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.34 and a twelve month high of $169.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.56, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.11.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.01). Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 21.31%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 6.05 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 16th. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.17%.

Insider Activity

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, COO Stuart Glen Williams sold 750 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total transaction of $114,742.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,780 shares in the company, valued at $1,955,212.20. The trade was a 5.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Benjamin Jackson sold 5,828 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $932,480.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 156,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,986,080. This trade represents a 3.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,795 shares of company stock worth $2,120,572 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Intercontinental Exchange 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.