Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Boosts Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 29.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 86,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,533 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in CME Group were worth $20,190,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of CME. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 9.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 51,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,309,000 after purchasing an additional 4,354 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 71,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,677,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth about $469,000. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 51,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,413,000 after acquiring an additional 722 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.9% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 51,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,463,000 after acquiring an additional 948 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of CME opened at $245.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $88.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $253.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $235.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $225.25.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CME shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.13.

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.