Donaldson Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 223,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,721 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises 2.0% of Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $51,978,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 108.7% in the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,949,000 after purchasing an additional 6,453 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of CME Group by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its position in shares of CME Group by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,730,000 after buying an additional 52,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of CME Group by 41.8% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,432,000 after buying an additional 303,169 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,076 shares of company stock worth $4,271,496. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $262.28 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $262.51. The company has a 50 day moving average of $240.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $231.22. The company has a market cap of $94.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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 research report on Thursday, February 13th. 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 research report on Friday, February 14th. 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 research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.