J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Sells 61,065 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG cut its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 376,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 61,065 shares during the period. CME Group makes up approximately 1.7% of J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in CME Group were worth $102,843,000 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 the stock. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 140,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,289,000 after acquiring an additional 3,931 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,306,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares in the last quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC now owns 31,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,506,000 after purchasing an additional 2,226 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in CME Group by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 27,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,571,000 after purchasing an additional 1,449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $940,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $266.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.06.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $297.58 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $248.53 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The business has a fifty day moving average of $303.12 and a 200-day moving average of $282.12. The stock has a market cap of $106.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.24.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 46.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,397,597.04. The trade was a 31.39% 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total transaction of $91,770.00. Following the sale, the director owned 24,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,647,194.10. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 8,539 shares of company stock valued at $2,713,821 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.