Cannell & Spears LLC Sells 546 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Cannell & Spears LLC cut its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,834 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 546 shares during the period. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $890,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.0% during 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 grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 142,692 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,107,389,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth about $871,063,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in CME Group by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,416,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $793,382,000 after purchasing an additional 819,158 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James raised CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.93.

CME Group Stock Up 1.2 %

CME Group stock opened at $265.29 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $250.30 and a 200-day moving average of $236.21. 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 twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $267.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.60 billion, a PE ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.71%.

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.