St. James Investment Company LLC Invests $7.88 Million in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

St. James Investment Company LLC acquired a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 33,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,878,000. CME Group makes up 1.4% of St. James Investment Company LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its position in CME Group by 108.7% in the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,949,000 after buying an additional 6,453 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in CME Group by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its stake in CME Group by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,730,000 after acquiring an additional 52,862 shares during the period. Finally, Unified Investment Management purchased a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $503,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $262.22 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $249.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $235.87. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $94.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.12, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $267.91.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued 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%. On average, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.93.

About CME Group

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.