International Assets Investment Management LLC Has $630,000 Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

International Assets Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 99.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 483,165 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 70.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,157,000 after buying an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,038,676,000 after purchasing an additional 537,758 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 17.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $554,707,000 after buying an additional 380,071 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. bought a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth $79,692,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in CME Group by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,432,000 after acquiring an additional 303,169 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.0 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $229.20 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $249.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $232.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $218.54. The company has a market cap of $82.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.25 EPS. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $5.80 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction of $1,019,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.