Whittier Trust Co. Has $2.92 Million Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Whittier Trust Co. decreased its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 902 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 70.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 69.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,671,000 after purchasing an additional 996,498 shares during the last quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $223,967,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP increased its stake in CME Group by 698.0% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,384,000 after buying an additional 476,019 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CME shares. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.93.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $263.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $94.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50 day moving average is $246.50 and its 200-day moving average is $234.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $267.91.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 51.71%.

CME Group 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.