Crews Bank & Trust Makes New $1.54 Million Investment in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 6,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,543,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.8% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 2,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its holdings in CME Group by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Wealth Network Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 2,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $232.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $83.78 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $249.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $234.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $222.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $5.80 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CME. Barclays lifted 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 note on Monday, December 9th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup downgraded 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 note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.