Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Raises Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 70.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 10,922 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $6,136,000 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 made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,243,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,952,273,000 after purchasing an additional 326,623 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,823,964,000 after purchasing an additional 142,692 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $871,063,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 380,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 69.2% in the 4th 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James raised CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 downgraded shares of 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.93.

CME Group Stock Up 0.1 %

CME stock traded up $0.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $262.22. 1,736,117 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,049,091. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $249.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $235.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $267.91.

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 expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group announced that its board has authorized 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 purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

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.