Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $3.71 Million Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 873 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in CME Group were worth $3,707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in CME Group by 570.6% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $262.06 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $247.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $234.95. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $267.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.10, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Erste Group Bank raised CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.93.

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.