TD Asset Management Inc. Sells 7,858 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

TD Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 412,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,858 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $95,807,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 108.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 6,453 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in CME Group by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 52,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unified Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $503,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on CME. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Erste Group Bank raised CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.93.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 $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. Insiders sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Trading Down 0.3 %

CME opened at $262.06 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $94.44 billion, a PE ratio of 27.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $267.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $247.77 and a 200-day moving average of $234.95.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About CME Group

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.