Scotia Capital Inc. Acquires 13,454 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Scotia Capital Inc. grew its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 35.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 51,482 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,454 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $11,958,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 287.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 186,608 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $41,175,000 after purchasing an additional 138,412 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 9.7% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 17.8% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,574 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,013,000 after buying an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in CME Group by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 234,565 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,757,000 after acquiring an additional 10,994 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 6.9% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,113 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME traded up $1.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $264.09. 491,487 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,131,836. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 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 market capitalization of $95.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.31, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $256.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $239.72.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $247.47.

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.