CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Bought by Simon Quick Advisors LLC

Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 28.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 338 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $471,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of CME Group by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $865,000 after purchasing an additional 947 shares during the period. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 36,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,428,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in CME Group by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 11,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,783,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $233.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $84.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average of $233.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $220.69. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $249.02. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,298. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.27.

CME Group Company 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.