Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Raises Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 17,682 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 951 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $4,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,823,964,000 after purchasing an additional 142,692 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,038,676,000 after buying an additional 537,758 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in CME Group by 6.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,835,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $557,371,000 after acquiring an additional 176,004 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $554,707,000 after acquiring an additional 380,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 70.4% during 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group 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 transaction, the director now owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,298. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $232.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $233.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.51. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $249.02. The company has a market capitalization of $83.86 billion, a PE ratio of 24.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $5.80 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share 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 purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often 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.