Aviso Wealth Management Trims Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Aviso Wealth Management reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 185 shares during the period. CME Group comprises approximately 1.2% of Aviso Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Aviso Wealth Management’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 60.0% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 72,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,089,000 after purchasing an additional 27,332 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 71,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,677,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 752.9% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $512,000 after acquiring an additional 2,048 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 9.7% during the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 3,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $796,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in CME Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 7,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CME. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer increased their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” 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, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.93.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $262.06 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.10, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. 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 $267.91. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $247.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.95.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.