Moran Wealth Management LLC Raises Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Moran Wealth Management LLC increased its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 226.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 71,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,706 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $16,640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CME. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,823,964,000 after buying an additional 142,692 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $871,063,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in CME Group by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $554,707,000 after purchasing an additional 380,071 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 69.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,671,000 after purchasing an additional 996,498 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,119 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $254.57 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $240.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $230.85. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $258.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $91.74 billion, a PE ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $235.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,076 shares of company stock worth $4,271,496 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

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.