Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Invests $819,000 in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $819,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,545,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 10.1% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 6,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in CME Group by 17.3% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 152,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,713,000 after purchasing an additional 22,570 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 4.1% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 93,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,618,000 after buying an additional 3,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This trade represents 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 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $266.54 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $96.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.56, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $245.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.74. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week 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.

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

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CME shares. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.93.

CME Group Company Profile

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.