CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Bought by DnB Asset Management AS

DnB Asset Management AS lifted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 138,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in CME Group were worth $32,276,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its position in CME Group by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.93.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $262.22 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $249.65 and a 200 day moving average of $235.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $267.91.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. 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. CME Group’s payout ratio is 51.71%.

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

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.