DnB Asset Management AS Acquires 1,119 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

DnB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 138,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in CME Group were worth $32,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,638,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the period. Vertex Planning Partners LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $1,597,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 10,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,430,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in CME Group by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $1,107,389,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % 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 valued at $6,871,496. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $262.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $94.49 billion, a PE ratio of 27.12, 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. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $249.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $235.63.

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

CME Group declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase 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 repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on 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 price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.93.

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.