Capital World Investors Decreases Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Capital World Investors lowered its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,212,713 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 918,317 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors owned approximately 3.11% of CME Group worth $2,603,914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,144,000. Unified Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $503,000. Spire Wealth Management lifted 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 worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 52,862 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays increased their price target 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. Oppenheimer increased their target price on CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $247.47.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % 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 ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:CME opened at $262.53 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. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $257.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $240.42. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $273.42. The company has a market capitalization of $94.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43.

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 net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. This is a positive change from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

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.

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