Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 65,726 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,047,687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 65,726 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $475,534,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $15,648,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328 shares in the last quarter. Unified Investment Management bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $503,000. Marathon Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in CME Group by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Marathon Asset Management Ltd now owns 179,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,683,000 after buying an additional 26,913 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 20,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,788,000 after buying an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.13.

CME Group Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $251.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $239.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $229.89. The stock has a market cap of $90.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $258.78. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related 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 value of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,076 shares of company stock worth $4,271,496 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group 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.