CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. reduced its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 108,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,785 shares during the quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $25,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 108.7% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,949,000 after buying an additional 6,453 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,144,000. Unified Investment Management purchased a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $503,000. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in CME Group by 37.4% during the fourth 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. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its position 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 valued at $75,730,000 after purchasing an additional 52,862 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays upped their price target on CME Group from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $247.47.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $262.53 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $273.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.60 billion, a PE ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $256.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $240.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly 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%. On average, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 51.71%.

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.