Colonial Trust Advisors Reduces Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Colonial Trust Advisors lessened its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 740 shares during the quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors’ holdings in CME Group were worth $5,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $1,107,389,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 70.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,119 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 996,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $223,967,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CME shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $246.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, 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 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $254.13 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $254.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $238.51. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $273.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.28, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced 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 return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. 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 is 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.