CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Acquired by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 76.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,103 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $4,354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,823,964,000 after buying an additional 142,692 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in CME Group by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,835,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $557,371,000 after acquiring an additional 176,004 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted 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 last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 70.4% in the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings 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. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price 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. Redburn Atlantic downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.27.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of CME opened at $234.68 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $233.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $84.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.68, a P/E/G ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The business’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership 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.