Ballentine Partners LLC Purchases 367 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 367 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 1.8% in 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 buying an additional 142,692 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 11.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,038,676,000 after buying an additional 537,758 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in CME Group by 6.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,835,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $557,371,000 after buying an additional 176,004 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 17.8% in 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 period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 70.4% in the third 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. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CME shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup cut shares of 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at $2,403,279.44. The trade was a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $232.25 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $249.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $233.43 and its 200 day moving average is $220.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.42, a P/E/G ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $5.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

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

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.