Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Decreases Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. cut its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 891,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 28,119 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for 0.9% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.25% of CME Group worth $206,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,107,389,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of CME Group by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,157,000 after buying an additional 1,003,119 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 69.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,671,000 after acquiring an additional 996,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP purchased a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $223,967,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $262.22 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50 day moving average is $249.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $235.75. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $267.91. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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 year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.71%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.93.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 over the last 90 days. Company 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.