Davis R M Inc. Has $20.99 Million Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Davis R M Inc. lowered its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 90,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,404 shares during the period. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $20,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,823,964,000 after buying an additional 142,692 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $871,063,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,707,000 after buying an additional 380,071 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 69.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,671,000 after buying an additional 996,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,119 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 3.0 %

CME opened at $262.28 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $240.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $231.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $262.51.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,076 shares of company stock worth $4,271,496. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.