Geode Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,389,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 104,697 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,946,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its position in CME Group by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 65,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,184,000 after purchasing an additional 4,609 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in CME Group by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 493,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,616,000 after acquiring an additional 55,980 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 76,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,497,000 after buying an additional 876 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 38.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,366,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $781,869,000 after acquiring an additional 939,679 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 52.0% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $661,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.93.

CME Group Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $265.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $95.60 billion, a PE ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. 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. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $250.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $236.21.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. 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 1.88%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

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.