Mirabaud Asset Management Ltd Cuts Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Mirabaud Asset Management Ltd decreased its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,119 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises approximately 2.9% of Mirabaud Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Mirabaud Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $6,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 570.6% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. Bank of America boosted their price target on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $241.53.

CME Group Stock Down 5.2 %

CME stock opened at $254.46 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $252.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $237.18. 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 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $273.42. The firm has a market cap of $91.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

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, 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%. Research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.