AlphaQuest LLC Sells 23,247 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

AlphaQuest LLC lowered its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 98.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,247 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $60,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,119 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $565,671,000 after purchasing an additional 996,498 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP grew 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 purchasing an additional 476,019 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in CME Group by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $554,707,000 after purchasing an additional 380,071 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.93.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % 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 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $266.54 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $267.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $245.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.74. The stock has a market cap of $96.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released 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 return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.71%.

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

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.