Renaissance Technologies LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Renaissance Technologies LLC cut its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 21.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,095,589 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 307,500 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.30% of CME Group worth $254,429,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in CME Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,081,391 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $947,821,000 after buying an additional 61,908 shares during the period. Canopy Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $202,000. Twin Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,634 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,166,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 83,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $18,929,000 after purchasing an additional 10,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,094 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $719,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of CME stock traded up $3.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $261.54. The stock had a trading volume of 2,756,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,138,864. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.25 billion, a PE ratio of 27.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $255.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $239.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $273.42.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $247.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 represents a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Company 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.