Rhumbline Advisers Cuts Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Rhumbline Advisers reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 681,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,361 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in CME Group were worth $158,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in CME Group by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 86,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,190,000 after purchasing an additional 19,533 shares during the last quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA increased its stake in CME Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 16,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,837,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 67,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,588,000 after acquiring an additional 1,998 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $664,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 207,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,505,000 after acquiring an additional 2,382 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. Barclays increased their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $245.48 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $253.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average of $235.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $225.25. The company has a market cap of $88.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. As a group, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.71%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.