ING Groep NV Trims Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

ING Groep NV lessened its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,863 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in CME Group were worth $8,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Boston Financial Mangement LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 287,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,707,000 after purchasing an additional 4,880 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 133,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,907,000 after purchasing an additional 6,451 shares in the last quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,858,000. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 260.6% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 85,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,765,000 after purchasing an additional 61,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 7,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,626,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.13.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $248.88 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $253.53. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $237.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $227.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.83 and a beta of 0.57.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 47.57%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About CME Group

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.