Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Cuts Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division reduced its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 96 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings in CME Group were worth $281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 58.4% during the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 613,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $135,441,000 after acquiring an additional 226,306 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 149.4% in the second quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 23,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,671,000 after purchasing an additional 14,234 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in CME Group by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,826,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $403,017,000 after purchasing an additional 283,171 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in CME Group by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,432,000 after buying an additional 303,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 39.7% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 204,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,065,000 after buying an additional 58,037 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective 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. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective 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 assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction of $1,019,880.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,131,291.92. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $232.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap 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 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $232.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $217.43.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.25 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 paid a dividend of $5.80 per share. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its board has approved a share 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 purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.