BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC Takes $603,000 Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC bought a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $603,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,107,389,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in CME Group by 70.4% during 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 during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $565,671,000 after purchasing an additional 996,498 shares during the period. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $223,967,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $261.54 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $255.22 and a 200-day moving average of $239.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on CME. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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, February 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $247.47.

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.