CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Kepos Capital LP

Kepos Capital LP reduced its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 168 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises 7.0% of Kepos Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Kepos Capital LP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $6,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of CME Group by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,729,000 after buying an additional 16,264 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 279,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,807,000 after purchasing an additional 64,045 shares in the last quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,134,000. Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 17,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 52,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Up 0.4 %

CME stock opened at $266.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.05 billion, a PE ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $267.91. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $245.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $233.74.

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

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays lifted their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.93.

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.