CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Acquired by Anchor Investment Management LLC

Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 52.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $83,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of CME Group by 1.1% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 70,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,862,000 after acquiring an additional 754 shares during the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $313,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 82.0% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 980 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in CME Group by 10.8% during the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 22.9% during the second quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 1,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. This represents a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,298. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $237.19 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $85.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.94, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $229.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.83.

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

CME Group declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $5.80 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $226.20.

About CME Group

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.