CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by WINTON GROUP Ltd

WINTON GROUP Ltd trimmed its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 503 shares during the period. CME Group makes up about 0.9% of WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $14,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 570.6% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 188.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’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 transaction of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $262.72 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $94.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.17, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $267.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $248.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $235.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase 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 repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James upgraded shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler lifted 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. Finally, Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.93.

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.