CIBC Asset Management Inc Increases Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 114,111 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,106 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc's holdings in CME Group were worth $26,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 66,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $15,342,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 49,620 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,706,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 422,268 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $98,063,000 after acquiring an additional 2,736 shares during the period. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 47.5% in the 4th quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 20,997 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,876,000 after acquiring an additional 6,761 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP raised its stake in CME Group by 74.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 1,996 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $464,000 after acquiring an additional 853 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $236.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $247.68. The company had a trading volume of 302,310 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,763,995. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $236.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.00. The firm has a market cap of $89.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.60, a PEG ratio of 6.83 and a beta of 0.57. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $253.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. This is a positive change from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.57%.

CME Group announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.