Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC Sells 54 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 54 shares during the period. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,025,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CME. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 698.0% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,384,000 after buying an additional 476,019 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 17.8% during 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 buying an additional 380,071 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. acquired a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at $79,692,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in CME Group by 41.8% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,432,000 after purchasing an additional 303,169 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $250.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.39 billion, a PE ratio of 25.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50-day moving average is $237.64 and its 200-day moving average is $228.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $253.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire 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 shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.13.

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.