CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Purchased by Primecap Management Co. CA

Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,864,920 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,230 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA owned about 0.52% of CME Group worth $433,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 188.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock traded down $3.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $263.35. The company had a trading volume of 7,238,569 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,925,202. 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 company has a market capitalization of $94.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company's fifty day moving average is $245.81 and its 200-day moving average is $233.74. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $267.91.

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CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $238.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % 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, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.