The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Cuts Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 229,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,446 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.06% of CME Group worth $50,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 11.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,038,676,000 after acquiring an additional 537,758 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of CME Group by 3.2% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,029,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $595,530,000 after acquiring an additional 94,302 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of CME Group by 6.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,835,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $557,371,000 after acquiring an additional 176,004 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 137.6% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,260,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $444,443,000 after acquiring an additional 1,309,097 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,981,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $437,320,000 after acquiring an additional 26,642 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $224.47.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 8,028 shares of company stock worth $1,811,681. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $237.33 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $238.12. The company has a market capitalization of $85.52 billion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a P/E/G ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a fifty day moving average of $225.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.25 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.37%.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.