Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Has $479,000 Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 59.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 767 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,107,389,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 69.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,671,000 after acquiring an additional 996,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $223,967,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $254.46 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $252.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $237.46. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $273.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $269.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” 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 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $241.53.

CME Group Company 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.