Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 577,885 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lowered its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 16.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,856,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 577,885 shares during the period. CME Group makes up approximately 2.3% of Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $663,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its position in CME Group by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 2,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on 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 CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $234.07.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $250.11 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $253.53. 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 company has a market capitalization of $90.13 billion, a PE ratio of 26.30, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $235.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $225.08.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. On average, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.37%.

CME Group Company 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.