4. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE)
Platinum Asset Management’s Stake Value: $86,203,000
Percentage of Platinum Asset Management’s 13F Portfolio: 2.42%
Dividend Yield as of January 7: 0.98%
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) was founded in 2000 and is an operator of 12 regulated exchanges and six clearing houses for commodity, equity, financial, and fixed income markets globally. The Atlanta, Georgia-based company accommodates nearly two-third of the traded crude oil futures and also houses the leading natural gas markets.
Earlier in January 2021, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) announced that it would spin off its cryptocurrency exchange Bakkt Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BKKT) and publicly list it on the NYSE through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). On the first day of trading on October 26, the stock price of Bakkt skyrocketed 234%.
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) announced a Q4 2021 dividend of 33 cents per share on October 28. The quarterly dividend reflected a 10% increase from the same period last year. In a research note issued on November 2, Richard Repetto at Piper Sandler termed the Q3 2021 results as outstanding and shared that the outperformance was due to its under-stress segment Mortgage Technology. The analyst also highlighted the upward movement of Bakkt Holdings and believed that it is not fully priced into the fundamentals of Intercontinental Exchange stock. Repetto kept an Overweight rating on Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) with a price target of $145.
Oakmark Funds shared its views on Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) in its Q2 2021 investor letter. Here’s what the fund said:
“Intercontinental Exchange is one of the largest and, in our view, most successful financial exchange operators in the world. The company was created through a series of shrewd acquisitions executed by their founder and CEO Jeff Sprecher. Sprecher is one of the more capable CEOs we’ve evaluated, having demonstrated a long history of astute capital allocation and a willingness to act and adapt rapidly to new opportunities and competitive threats. Today, Intercontinental Exchange competes in three primary business segments: exchanges, fixed income/data services and mortgage technology. We believe each of these businesses exhibits attractive economic characteristics and that each should grow earnings well in excess of GDP over the long term. Despite this favorable long-term outlook, the company currently trades at a P/E ratio that is roughly in line with the S&P 500. We believe a business with Intercontinental Exchange’s strong competitive position, excellent management team and attractive growth outlook deserves to trade well above a market multiple. We like buying great businesses at average prices and believe Intercontinental Exchange represents a compelling opportunity to do just that.”
