Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. Acquires New Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $81,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,323,000. Savant Capital LLC raised its position in CME Group by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 48,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,338,000 after buying an additional 15,704 shares during the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc raised its position in CME Group by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 14,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,401,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Tevis Investment Management purchased a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $476,000. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its position in CME Group by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,100,000 after buying an additional 1,201 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $241.81 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $235.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $224.32. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $249.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.43, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. 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 announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business 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 $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on CME. 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 research report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.27.

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.