Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 38.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,366,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 939,679 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $781,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,107,389,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $871,063,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 69.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 996,498 shares during the period. Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $223,967,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake 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 worth $793,382,000 after purchasing an additional 819,158 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.93.

CME Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of CME opened at $262.22 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $94.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.12, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $267.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $249.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $235.87. 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 issued its quarterly 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%. Analysts predict 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 allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

CME Group 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.