Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 552,108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,525 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.15% of CME Group worth $128,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,758,000. Prudential PLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 55.1% during the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 18,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,399,000 after acquiring an additional 6,727 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 59.3% during the 4th quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 2,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 767 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 75.8% in the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 57,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,337,000 after acquiring an additional 24,767 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in CME Group by 83.2% during the fourth quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,256,000 after purchasing an additional 2,455 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $252.37 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $252.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $237.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.10, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $273.42.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America lifted their target price on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. 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 report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $242.60.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group 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.