Kepos Capital LP Sells 168 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Kepos Capital LP lessened its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 168 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for 7.0% of Kepos Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Kepos Capital LP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $6,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 188.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $266.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $96.05 billion, a PE ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a fifty day moving average of $245.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $233.74. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $267.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James raised CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.93.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.