CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Jackson Square Partners LLC

Jackson Square Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 35,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,969 shares during the quarter. Jackson Square Partners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $8,227,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in CME Group by 70.5% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 26,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,136,000 after acquiring an additional 10,922 shares during the last quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 1,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its position in CME Group by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association increased its position in CME Group by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 3,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $730,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Finally, FineMark National Bank & Trust increased its position in CME Group by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 5,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,198,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James raised CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.93.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $262.94 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $94.75 billion, a PE ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $247.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $234.65. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $267.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire 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 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.