Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Cuts Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Asset Management One cut its position in CME Group by 7.2% in Q4, selling 14,639 shares and ending the quarter with 188,086 shares worth about $52.35 million.
• CME Group beat Q4 estimates with EPS of $2.77 (vs. $2.75 expected) and revenue of $1.65 billion, up 8.1% year‑over‑year, and the company carries a market cap of roughly $103.2 billion with a PE of 25.8.
• CME raised its quarterly dividend to $1.30 (annualized $5.20, ~1.8% yield); meanwhile insiders sold about 8,539 shares (~$2.7M) in the past 90 days and institutional investors own roughly 87.8% of the stock.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. cut its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 188,086 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,639 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. owned about 0.05% of CME Group worth $52,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CME. HCR Wealth Advisors grew its stake in CME Group by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 11,568 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,159,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services lifted its position in CME Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 26,973 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,366,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 31,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,657,000 after acquiring an additional 1,127 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,026 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $287.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.16 billion, a PE ratio of 25.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.26. The business's fifty day moving average price is $306.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $285.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $251.90 and a 12 month high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.CME Group's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 46.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total value of $91,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 24,999 shares in the company, valued at $7,647,194.10. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total transaction of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. The trade was a 31.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on CME Group in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $305.00 price objective for the company. Argus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $309.94.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world's largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company's core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.

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