CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Acquired by TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 14,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 52.4% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $7,615,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in CME Group by 3.6% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 46,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,320,000 after acquiring an additional 1,613 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 70.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Syntax Research Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth $2,540,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of CME Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $301.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America raised their price objective on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $247.47.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $265.56 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $257.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $241.07. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $95.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.46, 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $1.25 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.