iA Global Asset Management Inc. Raises Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 19.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 97,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,264 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $22,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network raised its holdings in CME Group by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 2,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $497,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.93.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $265.47 on Thursday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $245.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.51. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $267.91. The firm has a market cap of $95.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.45, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

CME Group Company 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.