AGF Management Ltd. Sells 8,820 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

AGF Management Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 23.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,820 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $6,728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Markel Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $697,000. Donaldson Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 223,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,978,000 after purchasing an additional 7,721 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in shares of CME Group by 77.6% during the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $308,000. Finally, Dearborn Partners LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 1,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James upgraded shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday. Citigroup downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.93.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $256.72 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $263.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.55, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $241.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $231.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. On average, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,076 shares of company stock valued at $4,271,496. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.