Vinva Investment Management Ltd Boosts Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,199 shares during the quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $4,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CME. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 570.6% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 188.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on 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 upped their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.93.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $265.47 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $95.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.45, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $245.07 and its 200 day moving average is $233.51. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $267.91.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.