Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Has $20.19 Million Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 29.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 86,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,533 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in CME Group were worth $20,190,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in CME Group by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its holdings in CME Group by 19.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 52,862 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,823,964,000 after purchasing an additional 142,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 58.4% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 613,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $135,441,000 after purchasing an additional 226,306 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $245.48 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $253.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $88.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $235.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $225.25.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $234.13.

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.