Magellan Asset Management Ltd Reduces Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd cut its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 78.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,572 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $98,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 108.7% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,949,000 after purchasing an additional 6,453 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. purchased a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $6,144,000. Unified Investment Management purchased a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $503,000. Spire Wealth Management increased its position in CME Group by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,730,000 after acquiring an additional 52,862 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $241.53.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.1 %

CME stock opened at $262.54 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $267.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $251.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $236.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 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, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost 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 has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.