National Bank of Canada FI Buys 55,980 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 493,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 55,980 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.14% of CME Group worth $114,616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in CME Group by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,709,000 after purchasing an additional 2,370 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.5% in the third quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in CME Group during the third quarter worth $48,490,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $335,000. Finally, Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $221,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of CME opened at $262.24 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.12, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $267.91. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $250.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced 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 return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CME shares. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group 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.