Goldstone Financial Group LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Goldstone Financial Group LLC lowered its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 894 shares during the period. Goldstone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,124,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group during the third quarter worth $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted 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 valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in 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 worth $43,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC raised 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 worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction of $1,019,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,131,291.92. This trade represents a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CME. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.27.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $232.31 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $232.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $219.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.72 billion, a PE ratio of 24.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $249.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued 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 was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

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.