CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) is CCLA Investment Management's 8th Largest Position

CCLA Investment Management grew its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 22.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 658,109 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 118,872 shares during the period. CME Group comprises about 2.4% of CCLA Investment Management's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. CCLA Investment Management owned approximately 0.18% of CME Group worth $152,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 58.4% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 613,828 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $135,441,000 after buying an additional 226,306 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 149.4% in the second quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 23,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,671,000 after buying an additional 14,234 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 18.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,826,501 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $403,017,000 after buying an additional 283,171 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 41.8% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $224,432,000 after buying an additional 303,169 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,823,964,000 after buying an additional 142,692 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $244.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $229.27.

CME Group Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of CME traded down $3.85 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $227.88. The company had a trading volume of 2,703,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,087,400. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $232.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $219.36. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $249.02. The company has a market capitalization of $82.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.25 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $5.80 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group's previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share 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 often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. This represents a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.