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

Canoe Financial LP decreased its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 540,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,140 shares during the quarter. CME Group accounts for approximately 2.0% of Canoe Financial LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Canoe Financial LP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $147,497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CME. Caldwell Trust Co lifted 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 buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC purchased a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter worth $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $293.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap 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. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $302.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $281.72. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $248.53 and a 12-month high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results 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 firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.52 EPS. Research analysts predict 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 was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 46.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 7,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. This trade represents a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 8,539 shares of company stock valued at $2,713,821 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on CME. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.06.

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.