Capital Research Global Investors Reduces Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Capital Research Global Investors trimmed its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 21.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 766,844 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 214,797 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors owned approximately 0.21% of CME Group worth $178,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth about $1,107,389,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 70.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $544,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $565,671,000 after acquiring an additional 996,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $223,967,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Up 1.2 %

CME traded up $3.03 on Friday, reaching $266.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,707,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,422,985. The company has a market capitalization of $95.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.54, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $273.42. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $258.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $241.50.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CME. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America increased their price target on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup cut CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $252.44.

CME Group 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.