Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Has $16.06 Million Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 69,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,146 shares during the quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $16,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CME. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in CME Group by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 26.6% during the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $220,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in CME Group by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 11,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,623,000 after purchasing an additional 2,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its holdings in CME Group by 88.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 6,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,455,000 after buying an additional 3,241 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on CME. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.13.

CME Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $249.85 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $253.53. The stock has a market cap of $90.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.84, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company’s fifty day moving average is $238.12 and its 200-day moving average is $228.59.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are 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 $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

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.