TIAA Trust National Association Boosts Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

TIAA Trust National Association lifted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the quarter. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in CME Group were worth $730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 108.7% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,949,000 after purchasing an additional 6,453 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. purchased a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in CME Group by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its holdings in CME Group by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,730,000 after buying an additional 52,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unified Investment Management purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth about $503,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $261.85 on Friday. 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. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $249.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $235.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.08, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.71%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’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 value of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James upgraded shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.93.

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.