ING Groep NV Decreases Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

ING Groep NV cut its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 37,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,863 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in CME Group were worth $8,616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 70.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,157,000 after buying an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP raised its position in shares of CME Group by 698.0% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,384,000 after acquiring an additional 476,019 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 17.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,707,000 after purchasing an additional 380,071 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. acquired a new position in CME Group in the third quarter worth $79,692,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in CME Group by 41.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 303,169 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.2 %

CME Group stock opened at $248.88 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $237.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $227.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.74, a P/E/G ratio of 6.83 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $253.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback 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 repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.13.

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.