Capital Performance Advisors LLP Has $464,000 Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Capital Performance Advisors LLP grew its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 74.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 853 shares during the quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $464,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 21,465.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 485,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,072,070,000 after buying an additional 483,618 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP raised its holdings in CME Group by 698.0% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,384,000 after purchasing an additional 476,019 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,707,000 after purchasing an additional 380,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. bought a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $79,692,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $245.48 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $235.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $225.77. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $253.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $88.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. Analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays upped 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.13.

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.