Groupama Asset Managment Increases Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 263.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 135,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 98,219 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in CME Group were worth $31,363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 188.4% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup downgraded 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 research report on Monday, January 6th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.93.

CME Group Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $265.29 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $267.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $250.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $236.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.60 billion, a PE ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.