Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 192,989 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,249 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned about 0.05% of CME Group worth $44,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CME. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 70.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,157,000 after buying an additional 1,003,119 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 698.0% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,384,000 after acquiring an additional 476,019 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,707,000 after acquiring an additional 380,071 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $79,692,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,432,000 after acquiring an additional 303,169 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.13.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $247.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $237.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $227.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $253.53.

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%. Equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its board has approved a share 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 reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership 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 given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.