LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Purchases 766 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 15,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,697,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $390,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419 shares in the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 7,056.5% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 1,623 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. Piper Sandler raised their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $256.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $238.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $229.58. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $257.78.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.