GAMMA Investing LLC Has $1.31 Million Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 36.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,495 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. bought a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $313,000. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 7.4% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 399,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,504,000 after acquiring an additional 27,460 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 30.9% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 249,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,849,000 after purchasing an additional 58,955 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 3.4% in the second quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Waverton Investment Management Ltd raised its position in CME Group by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 847,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,528,000 after purchasing an additional 30,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total value of $1,019,880.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at $6,131,291.92. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,403,279.44. This represents a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.33.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $232.50 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $249.02. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $232.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $217.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 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 shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $5.80 per share. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.37%.

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.