Westpac Banking Corp Buys Shares of 22,427 Intercontinental Exchange Inc. $ICE

Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 22,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,761,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ICE. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 1,169 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,483,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 16.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 21,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,892,000 after acquiring an additional 4,628 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 266,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,894,000 after acquiring an additional 6,373 shares in the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ICE opened at $161.29 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.55 billion, a PE ratio of 22.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.92. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $121.79 and a fifty-two week high of $181.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 30.08%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will post 8.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, 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 transaction of $693,083.88. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 45,473 shares in the company, valued at $6,891,887.88. This trade represents a 9.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William Jefferson Hague sold 1,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.46, for a total transaction of $185,900.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,807,608.72. This trade represents a 6.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,200 shares of company stock worth $3,035,385. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on ICE shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $208.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price (up from $190.00) on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $177.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Thursday, June 11th. One equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $183.33.

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.