CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Purchased by Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 630,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 60,737 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in CME Group were worth $157,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,823,964,000 after acquiring an additional 142,692 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $871,063,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 17.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 380,071 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 69.2% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,157,000 after buying an additional 1,003,119 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,076 shares of company stock worth $4,271,496. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $254.57 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $240.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $91.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $258.78.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 51.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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 lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $235.50.

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.