Unigestion Holding SA Has $26.80 Million Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Unigestion Holding SA lowered its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 32.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 121,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 57,264 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA’s holdings in CME Group were worth $26,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CME. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of CME Group by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in CME Group by 4.9% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 234,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,757,000 after acquiring an additional 10,994 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 17.8% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,013,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,823,964,000 after purchasing an additional 142,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brophy Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at about $596,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $239.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.15, a PEG ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s fifty day moving average is $228.20 and its 200-day moving average is $213.16. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $5.80 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.37%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CME. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $226.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,028 shares of company stock worth $1,811,681 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.