CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Troy Asset Management Ltd

Troy Asset Management Ltd cut its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 18.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 422,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 94,551 shares during the period. CME Group makes up approximately 3.3% of Troy Asset Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Troy Asset Management Ltd owned about 0.12% of CME Group worth $98,171,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,107,389,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,003,119 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 69.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,671,000 after buying an additional 996,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $223,967,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on CME. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.93.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock opened at $262.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.12, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. 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 50-day simple moving average of $249.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $235.63. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $267.91.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This is a positive change 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 1.91%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.