O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 20.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,688 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,476 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $6,198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,243,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,952,273,000 after acquiring an additional 326,623 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.8% in 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 buying an additional 142,692 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $1,107,389,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $871,063,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in CME Group by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,416,361 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $793,382,000 after acquiring an additional 819,158 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % 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 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.
CME Group Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded down $13.90 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $254.46. The company had a trading volume of 5,818,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,079,247. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $252.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.93. The stock has a market cap of $91.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $272.87.
CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. On average, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.
CME Group announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
CME Group Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. This is a positive change from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
CME has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research 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 has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $241.53.
View Our Latest Research Report on CME
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.
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