Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc Has $1.12 Million Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc grew its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 23.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,823,964,000 after purchasing an additional 142,692 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 11.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,038,676,000 after buying an additional 537,758 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in CME Group by 6.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,835,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $557,371,000 after buying an additional 176,004 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in CME Group by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,707,000 after acquiring an additional 380,071 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. The trade was a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,652,298. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. TD Cowen began coverage on CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays increased their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.27.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $232.71 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $233.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47, a PEG ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $249.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 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 business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $5.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

CME Group 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.