OFI Invest Asset Management Buys Shares of 2,393 CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $537,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 70.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $544,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,119 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 996,498 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP raised its stake in CME Group by 698.0% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $126,384,000 after acquiring an additional 476,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 17.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 380,071 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,076 shares of company stock worth $4,271,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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CME Group Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded down $3.71 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $256.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,085,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,889,851. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $92.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $241.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $231.77. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $263.65.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. CME Group's payout ratio is 51.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $238.93.

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.