CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Holdings Trimmed by Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co cut its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,357 shares during the quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in CME Group were worth $7,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 570.6% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 188.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % 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 worth $6,871,496 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on CME. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note 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 stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.93.

CME Group Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $262.72 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $248.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $235.14. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $267.91. The stock has a market cap of $94.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.17, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01.

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

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

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.