Investment Management Corp of Ontario Purchases 3,870 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 32.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,870 shares during the quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,668,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,243,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,952,273,000 after purchasing an additional 326,623 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,389,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,946,717,000 after purchasing an additional 104,697 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 89.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,280,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,923,047,000 after acquiring an additional 3,921,278 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,107,389,000. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,081,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $947,821,000 after acquiring an additional 61,908 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $256.80.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME opened at $284.35 on Monday. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $287.36. The company has a market cap of $102.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.41, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50 day moving average is $264.47 and its 200 day moving average is $245.78. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 50.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.61, for a total transaction of $1,304,836.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,336 shares in the company, valued at $2,339,164.96. This trade represents a 35.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total transaction of $271,280.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $790,781.20. The trade was a 25.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,726 shares of company stock worth $8,975,813. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.