Unigestion Holding SA Has $22.50 Million Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Unigestion Holding SA lessened its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 20.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 24,581 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA’s holdings in CME Group were worth $22,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 570.6% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 188.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 CME Group stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $269.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays increased their price target on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank raised CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $241.53.

CME Group Trading Down 5.2 %

CME stock opened at $254.46 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $273.42. The stock has a market cap of $91.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $252.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $237.31. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. Equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.25 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

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.