Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Increases Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,400 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in CME Group were worth $24,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 188.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 120.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $248.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $89.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $237.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $227.53. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $253.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS 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, equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase 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 repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut 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. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.13.

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.