CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Position Decreased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 24.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,041,449 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 662,947 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.57% of CME Group worth $474,104,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 570.6% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 188.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % 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. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock traded up $3.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $261.54. The stock had a trading volume of 2,756,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,138,864. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.25 billion, a PE ratio of 27.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $255.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $239.24. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $273.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.25 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America increased their target price on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded CME Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $301.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $247.47.

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.