Rathbones Group PLC Has $220 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Rathbones Group PLC cut its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 28.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 947,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 368,452 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for about 1.1% of Rathbones Group PLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $219,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 108.7% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,949,000 after acquiring an additional 6,453 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,144,000. Unified Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $503,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its holdings in CME Group by 19.3% in 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 buying an additional 52,862 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on CME. Raymond James upgraded shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $269.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $241.53.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company’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 value 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 represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % 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 worth $6,871,496 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Trading Down 5.2 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $254.46 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $91.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.31, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $273.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $252.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $237.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

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 issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. 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 yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

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.