Vontobel Holding Ltd. Cuts Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 16.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,856,255 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 577,885 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up 2.3% of Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned 0.79% of CME Group worth $663,308,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 570.6% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 120.3% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded up $2.38 on Tuesday, hitting $247.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,316,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,848,600. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $236.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $226.35. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $253.53. The company has a market capitalization of $89.32 billion, a PE ratio of 26.06, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. Sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays increased their price target on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $234.13.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by 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.