CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Acquired by Baillie Gifford & Co.

Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 396,944 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 35,775 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned about 0.11% of CME Group worth $92,182,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of CME Group by 9.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 51,255 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,309,000 after buying an additional 4,354 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 83.1% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,982 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $879,000 after acquiring an additional 1,807 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its holdings in CME Group by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 1,236 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in CME Group by 14.3% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 197,571 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,594,000 after acquiring an additional 24,643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.8% in the third quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 18,529 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,088,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of CME traded down $0.51 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $247.81. The stock had a trading volume of 270,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,763,995. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $236.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.00. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $253.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $89.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.63, a P/E/G ratio of 6.83 and a beta of 0.57.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. This is a positive change from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. 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 research note on Wednesday. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. 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 research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $236.13.

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.