Northcape Capital Pty Ltd Sells 1,260 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Northcape Capital Pty Ltd reduced its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,260 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises about 0.5% of Northcape Capital Pty Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Northcape Capital Pty Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,843,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $203,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 30,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 4.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,570,000 after purchasing an additional 17,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Syntax Research Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,540,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price target for the company. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on CME Group from $237.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Redburn Atlantic lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.53.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $227.01 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $232.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $218.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.87, a PEG ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $249.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.25 EPS. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $5.80 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at $2,403,279.44. The trade was a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.