Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC Sells 2,860 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 125,853 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,860 shares during the quarter. CME Group accounts for approximately 0.4% of Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $29,227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CME. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,823,964,000 after acquiring an additional 142,692 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $871,063,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in CME Group by 17.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $554,707,000 after purchasing an additional 380,071 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 69.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $565,671,000 after purchasing an additional 996,498 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 70.4% during the third 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 period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $238.93.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % 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 business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Trading Down 1.2 %

CME traded down $3.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $263.35. 7,238,569 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,925,202. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $267.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $245.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.90 billion, a PE ratio of 27.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business 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 $1.25 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are 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.