JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Grows Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd increased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 223,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,819 shares during the quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd owned approximately 0.06% of CME Group worth $51,991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,570,000 after buying an additional 17,508 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 120.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 225.6% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 925 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 61,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,666,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 8,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,861,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $284.35 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $264.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $245.67. The company has a market capitalization of $102.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.41, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $286.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total value of $271,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $790,781.20. The trade was a 25.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.61, for a total value of $1,304,836.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,339,164.96. This represents a 35.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,726 shares of company stock valued at $8,975,813. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $269.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $256.80.

About CME Group

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.