Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Raises Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 7.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 492,334 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 34,475 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.14% of CME Group worth $108,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in CME Group by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in CME Group by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in CME Group by 515.2% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,028 shares of company stock worth $1,811,681 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

CME traded up $0.93 during trading on Thursday, reaching $243.93. 1,071,321 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,944,455. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $249.02. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $226.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.53. The company has a market cap of $87.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.55, a PEG ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.25 EPS. The company's revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $244.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $224.47.

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.