CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Holdings Increased by MONECO Advisors LLC

MONECO Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 82.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 815 shares during the quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CME. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $521,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc raised its position in CME Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 77,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,920,000 after acquiring an additional 1,571 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its position in CME Group by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 101,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,474,000 after acquiring an additional 922 shares in the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC raised its position in CME Group by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 13,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,197,000 after acquiring an additional 887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greystone Financial Group LLC raised its position in CME Group by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 4,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $247.75 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $237.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $227.99. The company has a market cap of $89.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.62, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. 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 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $253.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four 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.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.13.

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.