AGF Management Ltd. Trims Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

AGF Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 25,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,115 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $6,945,000 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. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the second quarter valued at $1,571,447,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in CME Group by 107.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,502,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $406,029,000 after buying an additional 777,571 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $164,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,176,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,695,313,000 after acquiring an additional 532,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magellan Asset Management Ltd increased its position in shares of CME Group by 131,625.5% during the second quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 486,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,970,000 after acquiring an additional 485,698 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $293.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $105.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.40, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.27. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $275.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $272.52. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $238.12 and a 12-month high of $296.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on CME Group from $304.00 to $302.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on CME Group from $310.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $320.00 to $319.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.18.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,017,102.70. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

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.