UMB Bank n.a. Buys 345 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $16,638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 120.3% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 62.2% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 52.4% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Barclays upped their price target on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction of $1,019,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. This represents a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $232.71 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $249.02. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $233.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $219.93. The stock has a market cap of $83.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47, a PEG ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.2 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $5.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.