CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lowered its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,715,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in CME Group by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,119 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in CME Group by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,038,676,000 after acquiring an additional 537,758 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 21,465.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 485,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,072,070,000 after acquiring an additional 483,618 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP boosted its position in CME Group by 698.0% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,384,000 after acquiring an additional 476,019 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in CME Group by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,707,000 after acquiring an additional 380,071 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on CME Group in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price target for the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.27.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,298. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total value of $1,019,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at $6,131,291.92. This trade represents a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $233.38 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $249.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market capitalization of $84.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.54, a P/E/G ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $233.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.69.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $5.80 per share. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its board has initiated 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.