CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Bought by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,772,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 96,583 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $749,164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Caldwell Trust Co boosted its stake in CME Group by 116.3% in the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group during the third quarter worth $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $307.36 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $285.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $275.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $247.08 and a one year high of $322.57. The company has a market capitalization of $110.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.27.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on CME Group from $264.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on CME Group from $304.00 to $302.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $304.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at $72,017,102.70. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at $17,737,468.20. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 30,248 shares of company stock valued at $8,355,450 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group 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.