Summit Trail Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $986,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in CME Group by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its position in CME Group by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,730,000 after acquiring an additional 52,862 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in CME Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,823,964,000 after acquiring an additional 142,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 58.4% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 613,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,441,000 after purchasing an additional 226,306 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Trading Down 0.0 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $241.74 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $235.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $224.62. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $249.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $87.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on CME shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.