PineStone Asset Management Inc. Has $713.68 Million Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,613,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,352 shares during the period. CME Group makes up about 4.4% of PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. PineStone Asset Management Inc. owned 0.72% of CME Group worth $713,678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Caldwell Trust Co boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 116.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC purchased a new stake in 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total transaction of $1,300,530.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 43,007 shares in the company, valued at $13,317,117.55. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total transaction of $1,097,120.67. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $2,397,597.04. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,539 shares of company stock valued at $2,713,821. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CME. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $266.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $333.00 to $347.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.06.

CME Group Stock Down 0.7%

CME opened at $295.35 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $105.92 billion, a PE ratio of 26.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. 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 50-day moving average of $303.43 and a 200-day moving average of $282.36.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.52 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a $1.30 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 46.59%.

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.