Unigestion Holding SA Sells 24,581 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Unigestion Holding SA lessened its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 20.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 96,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 24,581 shares during the quarter. Unigestion Holding SA’s holdings in CME Group were worth $22,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,243,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,952,273,000 after acquiring an additional 326,623 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,389,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,946,717,000 after purchasing an additional 104,697 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth about $1,107,389,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $871,063,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in CME Group by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,416,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $793,382,000 after buying an additional 819,158 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Trading Down 5.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $254.46 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $273.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.31, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $252.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.31.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 positive change 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 yield of 1.96%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. 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. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $241.53.

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.