Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich Increases Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich boosted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,897,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,823,964,000 after purchasing an additional 142,692 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 17.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,707,000 after purchasing an additional 380,071 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 70.4% in 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 buying an additional 1,003,119 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in CME Group by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,230,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $492,072,000 after buying an additional 237,800 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,981,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $437,320,000 after buying an additional 26,642 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays boosted their target price on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.27.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $241.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.11 billion, a PE ratio of 25.42, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $249.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $235.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $224.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. On average, equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its board has approved a share 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 management believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

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.