Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 26,379 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 29.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 26,379 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $14,749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CME. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 108.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 6,453 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,144,000. Unified Investment Management acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $503,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its position in shares of CME Group by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,730,000 after acquiring an additional 52,862 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CME shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Erste Group Bank raised CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $247.47.

CME Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of CME opened at $262.53 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $257.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $240.53. 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 firm has a market cap of $94.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week 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 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 forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,686,980. The trade was 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 valued at $6,871,496 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.