1,583 Shares in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Acquired by Sentinel Trust Co. LBA

Sentinel Trust Co. LBA purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $368,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.13.

CME Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $249.85 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $253.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $238.12 and a 200 day moving average of $228.59. The stock has a market cap of $90.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.