CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Position Cut by Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec reduced its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 75.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 64,277 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec's holdings in CME Group were worth $4,920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $3,055,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $226,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in CME Group by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,523,694 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $586,078,000 after acquiring an additional 598,027 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in CME Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 594,592 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $138,082,000 after acquiring an additional 7,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 26.3% in the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 5,863 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,726 shares of company stock worth $8,975,813 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $256.80.

CME Group Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ CME traded up $2.36 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $284.35. 953,386 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,155,183. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.47 billion, a PE ratio of 29.41, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. 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 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $286.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $264.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $245.67.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.50 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

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.