Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $871.06 Million in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,750,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $871,063,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 1.04% of CME Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 570.6% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 188.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 120.3% during the fourth 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 during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,076 shares of company stock worth $4,271,496 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 1.0 %

CME opened at $254.48 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $91.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.32, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $239.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $258.78.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.13.

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.