Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Grows Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 303,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,300 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in CME Group were worth $66,923,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,723,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 11.8% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.7% in the second quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 7,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.7% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 10.2% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $224.47.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $234.39 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $235.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market capitalization of $84.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.65, a P/E/G ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $224.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.37.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.25 EPS. Equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total value of $1,019,880.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. This trade represents a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,621 shares of company stock worth $3,441,063 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.