Keystone Financial Planning Inc. Grows Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Keystone Financial Planning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 777 shares during the quarter. CME Group accounts for about 2.6% of Keystone Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Keystone Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $8,363,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 120.3% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 62.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 52.4% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. This trade represents a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ CME traded up $0.82 on Monday, hitting $230.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 856,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,974,364. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $249.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $232.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $218.87. The firm has a market cap of $82.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.19, a PEG ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.25 EPS. The business’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 announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign 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 given a $5.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America upped 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 upped their price objective on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.27.

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.