Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Buys 203 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in CME Group by 188.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 120.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 62.2% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock opened at $229.20 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $232.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $218.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. 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 price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a PEG ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. CME Group’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.25 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given 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 is Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,298. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.