MFA Wealth Services Takes Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

MFA Wealth Services bought a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in CME Group by 188.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 120.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 62.2% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 51.6% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. This represents a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on CME. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.27.

CME Group Trading Up 0.4 %

CME opened at $233.38 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $233.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $220.69. The firm has a market cap of $84.10 billion, a PE ratio of 24.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month 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.

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

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $5.80 dividend. 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 currently 48.37%.

CME Group Company 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.