Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. Has $5.72 Million Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,619 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,817 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $5,717,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 6,453 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $6,144,000. Unified Investment Management bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $503,000. Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its holdings in CME Group by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $75,730,000 after purchasing an additional 52,862 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders 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 Price Performance

Shares of CME stock traded down $2.20 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $260.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,477,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,146,103. The firm's 50-day moving average is $257.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $240.90. The company has a market cap of $93.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $273.42. 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 (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. On average, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a positive change from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $247.47.

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.