Unigestion Holding SA Buys 4,819 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Unigestion Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 101,716 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,819 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises 1.6% of Unigestion Holding SA's portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Unigestion Holding SA's holdings in CME Group were worth $26,971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,243,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,952,273,000 after acquiring an additional 326,623 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,389,442 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,946,717,000 after purchasing an additional 104,697 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of CME Group by 89.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,280,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,923,047,000 after purchasing an additional 3,921,278 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,107,389,000. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,081,391 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $947,821,000 after purchasing an additional 61,908 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME stock traded down $2.98 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $274.90. 1,957,415 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,187,490. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $290.79. The stock has a market cap of $99.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock's 50-day moving average is $271.26 and its 200-day moving average is $252.28.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.50 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. CME Group's payout ratio is 50.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CME. Barclays increased their target price on CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on CME Group from $282.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $258.20.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Phyllis M. Lockett sold 1,060 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.88, for a total transaction of $294,552.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $863,651.04. The trade was a 25.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,900 shares of company stock valued at $6,147,935 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.