Korea Investment CORP Trims Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Korea Investment CORP lessened its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 215,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 931 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $50,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,243,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,952,273,000 after purchasing an additional 326,623 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.8% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 142,692 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $871,063,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its position in CME Group by 69.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,671,000 after acquiring an additional 996,498 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $261.85 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $249.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $235.32. 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 firm has a market cap of $94.36 billion, a PE ratio of 27.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $267.91.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. Equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. 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 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.93.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value 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 approximately $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.