First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Sells 2,710 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lessened its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 41,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,710 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $9,690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Archford Capital Strategies LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 6,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,438,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC increased its position in CME Group by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC now owns 21,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,015,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its stake in CME Group by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,730,000 after acquiring an additional 52,862 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 570.6% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of CME Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total value of $1,019,880.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,131,291.92. This represents a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,298. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $234.68 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $234.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $249.02. The company has a market capitalization of $84.57 billion, a PE ratio of 24.68, a PEG ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.25 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $5.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on CME. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America lifted their target price on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.27.

About CME Group

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.