CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Synovus Financial Corp

Synovus Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 480 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,541,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CME. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 108.7% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,949,000 after acquiring an additional 6,453 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $6,144,000. Unified Investment Management purchased a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $503,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in CME Group by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 19.3% in the 4th 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. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $262.87 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $273.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $256.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $239.72.

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, 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%. Research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s payout ratio is 51.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on CME Group from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company 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.