Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 80,755 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 899,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 80,755 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $208,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 6,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 552,108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $128,216,000 after purchasing an additional 7,525 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,758,000. Prudential PLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 55.1% in the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 18,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,399,000 after buying an additional 6,727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 59.3% during the 4th quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 2,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 767 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 5.2 %

CME opened at $254.46 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $91.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $252.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $237.18. 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 $273.42.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. Analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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. Piper Sandler increased their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” 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, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $241.53.

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.