CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stake Lowered by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CMEFree Report) by 98.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 729,658 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in CME Group by 1.8% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 11.3% in the second 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 raised its position in CME Group by 6.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake 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. grew its position in CME Group by 70.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $232.25 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $233.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.35. The stock has a market cap of $83.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.42, a PEG ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CMEGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 prior year, the business earned $2.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $5.80 dividend. 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 is 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CME. Barclays raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.27.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on CME Group

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,403,279.44. The trade was a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for CME Group (NASDAQ:CME)

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