Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 7,720 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 280,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,720 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $65,056,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 570.6% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in CME Group by 188.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock opened at $265.29 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $267.91. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $250.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $236.21. The company has a market capitalization of $95.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.43, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted 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 net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 51.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.