America First Investment Advisors LLC Has $22.46 Million Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

America First Investment Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 96,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,185 shares during the period. CME Group comprises 4.9% of America First Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. America First Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $22,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CME. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its position 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 worth $137,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network boosted its position in CME Group by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 2,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $262.06 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $247.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $234.95. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $267.91. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group 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 sale, the insider now owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays boosted their price target on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.93.

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.