Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Sells 293 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. decreased its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 293 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $11,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 108.7% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,949,000 after acquiring an additional 6,453 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth about $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in CME Group by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its holdings in CME Group by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,730,000 after acquiring an additional 52,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings 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 worth $224,432,000 after acquiring an additional 303,169 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective 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. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday. Citigroup downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,076 shares of company stock worth $4,271,496. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $256.72 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $92.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.55, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $241.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $231.77. 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 fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $263.65.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

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

CME Group 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.