CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Boston Common Asset Management LLC

Boston Common Asset Management LLC lowered its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,916 shares during the period. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $7,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. acquired a new position in CME Group during the second quarter worth about $313,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 47,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,359,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 23.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,069,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $210,328,000 after purchasing an additional 203,251 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in shares of CME Group by 16.0% in the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in CME Group in the second quarter valued at $937,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $232.71 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $233.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $219.51. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $249.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market capitalization of $83.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.25 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $5.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,298. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CME. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.27.

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.