Toronto Dominion Bank Lowers Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Toronto Dominion Bank lessened its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 208,849 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 25,716 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank owned approximately 0.06% of CME Group worth $48,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 108.7% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,949,000 after acquiring an additional 6,453 shares in the last quarter. Unified Investment Management bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $503,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $548,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,169,999 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $503,939,000 after acquiring an additional 343,498 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded up $1.82 on Friday, hitting $287.69. 4,721,408 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,186,848. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $290.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $269.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $251.24. The company has a market cap of $103.67 billion, a PE ratio of 29.75, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The firm 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 company earned $2.50 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. CME Group's payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $81,951.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,767 shares in the company, valued at $6,765,601.39. This trade represents a 1.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,400 shares of company stock worth $6,533,180 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CME shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America upped their target price on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Erste Group Bank downgraded CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $256.80.

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.