CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 20,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,210 shares during the period. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $4,853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp grew its stake in CME Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 10,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,395,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $6,136,000 after purchasing an additional 10,922 shares in the last quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 1,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association raised its position in shares of CME Group by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 3,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $730,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James upgraded shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays upped 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 note on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.93.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $262.06 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $247.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $234.95. The company has a market cap of $94.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.10, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $267.91.

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, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

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.