Central Valley Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Central Valley Advisors LLC raised its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the third quarter worth $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in CME Group by 188.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 62.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 52.4% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $232.31 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $249.02. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $232.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.43, a PEG ratio of 4.93 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.25 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase 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 buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. This represents a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of CME Group 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on 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, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.