Private Advisor Group LLC Raises Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CME. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the third quarter valued at about $1,633,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its position in CME Group by 26.6% in the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 87.5% in the third quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the third quarter valued at about $220,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $247.99 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $89.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50 day moving average of $237.86 and a 200-day moving average of $228.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $253.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. On average, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup downgraded 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 raised their target price on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.13.

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.