SJS Investment Consulting Inc. Has $26,000 Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 570.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $26,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 188.4% in the third 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 period. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 120.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its position in CME Group by 51.6% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CME. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.27.

CME Group Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $234.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.68, a PEG ratio of 5.28 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. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $234.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.05. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $249.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program 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 programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction of $1,019,880.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. This trade represents a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,298. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.