Stamos Capital Partners L.P. Raises Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Stamos Capital Partners L.P. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 63.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 17,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,690 shares during the period. Stamos Capital Partners L.P.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 570.6% during 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 in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 120.3% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $247.47.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $261.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $255.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $239.10. The firm has a market cap of $94.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $273.42.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s payout ratio is 51.71%.

CME Group 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.