CORDA Investment Management LLC. Has $53.47 Million Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

CORDA Investment Management LLC. lowered its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 230,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,123 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up 4.3% of CORDA Investment Management LLC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. CORDA Investment Management LLC. owned approximately 0.06% of CME Group worth $53,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $544,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 698.0% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,384,000 after purchasing an additional 476,019 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 17.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,707,000 after buying an additional 380,071 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. bought a new position in CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $79,692,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in CME Group by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,432,000 after buying an additional 303,169 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $249.85 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $238.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $228.59. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $253.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.84, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.13.

About CME Group

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.