Ballentine Partners LLC Purchases 367 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CMEFree Report) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 367 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,343,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc now owns 4,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,124,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,035,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $240,361,000 after purchasing an additional 51,509 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 71,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,638,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, Trueblood Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 88.0% in the 4th quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price on the stock. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.27.

Get Our Latest Research Report on CME Group

CME Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $232.25 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $249.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $233.43 and a 200 day moving average of $220.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.69 billion, a PE ratio of 24.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CMEGet Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.25 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $5.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s payout ratio 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 purchase 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 stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,403,279.44. The trade was a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for CME Group (NASDAQ:CME)

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