CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 422,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,736 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $98,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 70.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,119 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 21,465.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 485,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,072,070,000 after acquiring an additional 483,618 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP lifted its stake in CME Group by 698.0% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,384,000 after acquiring an additional 476,019 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 17.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,707,000 after acquiring an additional 380,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. purchased a new position in CME Group in the third quarter worth approximately $79,692,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 1.0 %

CME stock opened at $247.86 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $236.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $226.35. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $253.53. The company has a market cap of $89.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of 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 stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.13.

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.