Mackenzie Financial Corp Reduces Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Mackenzie Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,151,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 76,074 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in CME Group were worth $267,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 108.7% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,949,000 after purchasing an additional 6,453 shares during the period. Unified Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $503,000. Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its position in CME Group by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,730,000 after acquiring an additional 52,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aspire Growth Partners LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $548,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:CME opened at $284.07 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.37 billion, a PE ratio of 29.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $286.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $267.83 and a 200-day moving average of $248.97.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.50 earnings per share. Analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $256.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total value of $141,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,916.56. This represents a 12.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,384 shares of company stock valued at $7,531,053 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.