CCLA Investment Management Boosts Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

CCLA Investment Management boosted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 658,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 118,872 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises about 2.4% of CCLA Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. CCLA Investment Management’s holdings in CME Group were worth $152,832,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 58.4% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 613,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,441,000 after acquiring an additional 226,306 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 149.4% during the 2nd quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 23,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,671,000 after purchasing an additional 14,234 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in CME Group by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,826,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $403,017,000 after buying an additional 283,171 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 41.8% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,432,000 after buying an additional 303,169 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,823,964,000 after acquiring an additional 142,692 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.27.

CME Group Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of CME opened at $231.73 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $232.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $219.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $83.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $249.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $5.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,298. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071. 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.