CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Acquired by Baillie Gifford & Co.

Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 396,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,775 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $92,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,730,000 after buying an additional 52,862 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,823,964,000 after buying an additional 142,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 41.8% during the third 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 during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Down 1.9 %

CME opened at $245.48 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $253.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $235.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $226.00. The company has a market cap of $88.46 billion, a PE 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 quarterly 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 net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $234.13.

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.