Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,912 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,157 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $17,165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $544,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,119 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its stake in 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 valued at $565,671,000 after buying an additional 996,498 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 698.0% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $126,384,000 after acquiring an additional 476,019 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 17.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $554,707,000 after acquiring an additional 380,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $79,692,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CME. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $235.50.
View Our Latest Stock Report on CME
CME Group Stock Up 0.2 %
Shares of CME Group stock traded up $0.53 during trading on Friday, hitting $254.57. 2,698,449 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,856,007. The stock has a market cap of $91.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.33, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $240.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $230.55. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $258.78. 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 the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. Equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.
CME Group Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.
CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,076 shares of company stock valued at $4,271,496. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.
About CME Group
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Before you consider CME Group, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and CME Group wasn't on the list.
While CME Group currently has a Reduce rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
MarketBeat has just released its list of 20 stocks that Wall Street analysts hate. These companies may appear to have good fundamentals, but top analysts smell something seriously rotten. Are any of these companies lurking around your portfolio?
Get This Free Report
