MONECO Advisors LLC Buys 815 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

MONECO Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 82.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 815 shares during the quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $419,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 37.4% during the fourth 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 lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 19.3% during the fourth 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.8% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 41.8% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,432,000 after buying an additional 303,169 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $247.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.62, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $253.53. The business has a 50-day moving average of $237.34 and a 200-day moving average of $227.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’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 directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four 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 company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.13.

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.