Waverton Investment Management Ltd Has $236.51 Million Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 20.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,018,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 172,753 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up 3.8% of Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $236,508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meyer Handelman Co. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in CME Group by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its holdings in CME Group by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,730,000 after buying an additional 52,862 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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 valued at $1,823,964,000 after acquiring an additional 142,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in CME Group by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,432,000 after acquiring an additional 303,169 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $248.88 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $237.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $227.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.69 billion, a PE ratio of 25.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $253.53. 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 (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 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. On average, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its board has initiated a share buyback 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 purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price 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. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.13.

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.