Prudential PLC Grows Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Prudential PLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 55.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,727 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $4,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Hilltop Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $335,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 29.7% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 20,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,556,000 after acquiring an additional 4,732 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 287.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 186,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,175,000 after acquiring an additional 138,412 shares during the last quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in CME Group by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % 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 worth $6,871,496 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $254.46 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $273.42. The company has a market cap of $91.70 billion, a PE ratio of 26.31, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $252.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $237.31.

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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.25 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer increased their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $241.53.

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.