Canoe Financial LP Sells 16,140 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Canoe Financial LP reduced its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 540,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,140 shares during the period. CME Group makes up 2.0% of Canoe Financial LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Canoe Financial LP owned about 0.15% of CME Group worth $147,497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 24.0% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,987,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $548,150,000 after purchasing an additional 385,225 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in CME Group by 8.9% in the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 70,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,106,000 after purchasing an additional 5,773 shares in the last quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 86.0% during the third quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 29,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,896,000 after purchasing an additional 13,512 shares during the last quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 85.2% during the third quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,302,000 after purchasing an additional 3,919 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Financial Group LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 310.2% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 3,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $839,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $293.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $248.53 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The company has a fifty day moving average of $302.76 and a 200-day moving average of $281.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.24.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.59%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $809,700. The trade was a 21.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,397,597.04. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,539 shares of company stock valued at $2,713,821. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CME. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price 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. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.06.

CME Group Company 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.