CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stake Lifted by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 70.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,922 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $6,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 570.6% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 188.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $262.94 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $267.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $247.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $234.65. The stock has a market cap of $94.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

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

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. 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 yield of 1.90%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted 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 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 MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.93.

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.