CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Holdings Boosted by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,529 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $12,651,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CME. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 59.1% in the third quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $613,000 after buying an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 50.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 34,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,514,000 after acquiring an additional 11,462 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of CME Group by 6.4% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 112.6% during the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 8,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,872,000 after purchasing an additional 4,493 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 267.1% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 2,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $621,000 after purchasing an additional 2,049 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.27.

CME Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $244.83 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $235.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $223.63. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $249.02. The stock has a market cap of $88.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a PEG ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group 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.