Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Purchases 94,391 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 668,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 94,391 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in CME Group were worth $155,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CME. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in 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 stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,144,000. Unified Investment Management purchased a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $503,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake 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 worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its holdings in CME Group by 19.3% during 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 in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $262.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $256.78 and its 200 day moving average is $240.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.60 billion, a PE ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $273.42.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. 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%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group 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 sale, the insider now owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded CME Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $301.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.