Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 26,379 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 29.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 63,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 26,379 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $14,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Ltd. CA lifted its holdings in CME Group by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 54,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,652,000 after buying an additional 6,953 shares during the period. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. now owns 12,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,856,000 after acquiring an additional 1,395 shares during the period. Capital International Sarl boosted its holdings in CME Group by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 82,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,046,000 after acquiring an additional 13,095 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in CME Group by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 521,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $121,036,000 after acquiring an additional 7,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in CME Group by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 668,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,230,000 after purchasing an additional 94,391 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $257.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $240.53. The company has a market capitalization of $94.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, 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.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced 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 return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Research analysts expect 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 paid a $1.25 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective 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. Oppenheimer raised their target price on CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Raymond James raised CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $247.47.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,046 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.