Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,054,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 96,301 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for approximately 0.7% of Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.85% of CME Group worth $710,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 71,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,677,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in CME Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 7,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 0.4% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 30,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,664,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,108,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,560,000 after acquiring an additional 37,911 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % 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 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $262.72 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $94.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.17, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $248.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $235.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $267.91.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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 is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.93.

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.