CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 20.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 37,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,451 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $8,606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,144,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 58.4% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 613,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,441,000 after purchasing an additional 226,306 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $1,823,964,000 after purchasing an additional 142,692 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in CME Group by 41.8% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,432,000 after purchasing an additional 303,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 18.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,826,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $403,017,000 after purchasing an additional 283,171 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.27.

CME Group Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $232.50 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $249.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business’s fifty day moving average is $234.31 and its 200-day moving average is $222.01. The stock has a market cap of $83.78 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $5.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.37%.

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.