Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Has $98.78 Million Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA trimmed its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 425,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,324 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in CME Group were worth $98,775,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $1,107,389,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $544,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,119 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its position in CME Group by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,671,000 after purchasing an additional 996,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $223,967,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $262.22 on Friday. 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 market capitalization of $94.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $249.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $235.63.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced 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%. Equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group announced that its board has approved a share buyback program 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 programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 51.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CME. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average 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.