Ossiam Lowers Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Ossiam cut its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 90.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,738 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 106,800 shares during the quarter. Ossiam's holdings in CME Group were worth $2,494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in CME Group by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 96,069 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,198,000 after buying an additional 8,968 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth about $7,615,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in CME Group by 3.6% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 46,773 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,320,000 after buying an additional 1,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $544,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $269.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $252.44.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % 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 three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of CME Group stock traded up $3.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $266.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,707,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,154,016. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $258.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $241.50. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $273.42. The company has a market cap of $95.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.54, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. 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 issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

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.