South Dakota Investment Council Makes New $759,000 Investment in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

South Dakota Investment Council bought a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $759,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 105,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,418,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in CME Group by 86.7% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,610,000 after buying an additional 3,221 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 82.6% in the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 815 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $521,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, Townsend & Associates Inc grew its position in shares of CME Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 77,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,920,000 after acquiring an additional 1,571 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $248.88 on Monday. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $237.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $227.69. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $253.53. The firm has a market cap of $89.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.74, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.13.

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.