CME Group Inc. $CME Stock Position Increased by Cibc World Market Inc.

Key Points

• Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its CME Group stake by 144.3% in the fourth quarter, ending with 82,812 shares valued at about $22.6 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high at 87.75%, even as several insiders sold shares recently, including Hilda Harris Piell and General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus.
• CME Group beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter, reporting $3.36 EPS on $1.88 billion in revenue, while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share.

Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 144.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 82,812 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 48,920 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $22,614,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CME. Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 64.9% in the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 191.9% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 1,250.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 197.4% in the 4th quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 44,044 shares of company stock worth $13,297,507. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Argus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Erste Group Bank lowered CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $305.29.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME opened at $257.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $93.27 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $288.35 and a 200-day moving average of $288.60. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $244.56 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The firm's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 44.37%.

About CME Group

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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