Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Grows Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 48,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,036 shares during the quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in CME Group were worth $11,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 614,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,735,000 after buying an additional 57,439 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,047,687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $475,534,000 after acquiring an additional 65,726 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 67,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,648,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328 shares in the last quarter. Unified Investment Management acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $503,000. Finally, Marathon Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Marathon Asset Management Ltd now owns 179,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,683,000 after purchasing an additional 26,913 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays lifted their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.13.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $256.88 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $238.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $229.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.56, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $257.78.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given 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 dividend yield of 1.95%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.