CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Acquired by Private Advisor Group LLC

Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,626,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,823,964,000 after purchasing an additional 142,692 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $554,707,000 after purchasing an additional 380,071 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,119 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,230,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $492,072,000 after purchasing an additional 237,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,981,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $437,320,000 after purchasing an additional 26,642 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.13.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $247.99 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $237.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $228.44. The stock has a market cap of $89.37 billion, a PE ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $253.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share 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 buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 51.71%.

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.