Groupama Asset Managment Acquires 8,847 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 236,660 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,847 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment owned 0.07% of CME Group worth $63,943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Caldwell Trust Co raised its holdings in CME Group by 116.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Bank of America upped their target price on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Erste Group Bank raised CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on CME Group from $266.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,017,102.70. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 43,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 5,248 shares of company stock worth $1,616,700 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ:CME opened at $308.90 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $248.53 and a one year high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $298.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $279.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.68, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.24.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.59%.

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.