Fortitude Family Office LLC Has $35,000 Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 120.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 83 shares during the quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $35,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. acquired a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $313,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 1,664.6% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 11,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,214,000 after purchasing an additional 10,637 shares during the period. Choreo LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,194,000. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 13.8% during the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 28,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,687,000 after purchasing an additional 3,497 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $229.20 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $232.56 and its 200 day moving average is $218.54. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02. The firm has a market cap of $82.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.10, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.53.

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.