iA Global Asset Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 19.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 97,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,264 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $22,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,823,964,000 after purchasing an additional 142,692 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $871,063,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,707,000 after purchasing an additional 380,071 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 69.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $565,671,000 after buying an additional 996,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,157,000 after buying an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CME. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.93.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $265.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $95.66 billion, a PE ratio of 27.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $267.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $245.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $233.51.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. As a group, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.