CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Troy Asset Management Ltd

Troy Asset Management Ltd reduced its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 18.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 422,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 94,551 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises about 3.3% of Troy Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Troy Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $98,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,108,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,560,000 after buying an additional 37,911 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in CME Group by 49.5% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 23,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,197,000 after buying an additional 7,801 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 215.6% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 8,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,851,000 after acquiring an additional 5,731 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in CME Group by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 144,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,874,000 after acquiring an additional 7,945 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.93.

CME Group Trading Up 0.1 %

CME stock opened at $262.22 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $249.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $235.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $267.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its 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%. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.71%.

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.