Blair William & Co. IL Sells 29,167 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Blair William & Co. IL decreased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 143,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 29,167 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in CME Group were worth $33,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its position in CME Group by 108.7% in the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,949,000 after buying an additional 6,453 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in CME Group by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $75,730,000 after purchasing an additional 52,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unified Investment Management purchased a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $503,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $261.85 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $267.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $249.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $235.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.36 billion, a PE ratio of 27.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

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, 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 research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price 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, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.