Russell Investments Group Ltd. Reduces Position in Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (BATS:CBOE)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (BATS:CBOE) by 9.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 176,189 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,131 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Cboe Global Markets were worth $24,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CBOE. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cboe Global Markets during the 4th quarter valued at $159,764,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Cboe Global Markets by 156.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,015,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,280,000 after acquiring an additional 618,644 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Cboe Global Markets by 86.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,310,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,428,000 after acquiring an additional 608,728 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Cboe Global Markets by 194.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 833,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,639,000 after acquiring an additional 550,867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Group LLC increased its holdings in Cboe Global Markets by 108.9% in the 2nd quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 679,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,794,000 after acquiring an additional 354,360 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.73% of the company’s stock.

Cboe Global Markets Price Performance

Cboe Global Markets stock opened at $176.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $162.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $148.62. Cboe Global Markets, Inc. has a 1 year low of $103.82 and a 1 year high of $139.00. The stock has a market cap of $18.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.11 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21.

Cboe Global Markets (BATS:CBOE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 3rd. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.20. Cboe Global Markets had a net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $480.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $479.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Cboe Global Markets, Inc. will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Cboe Global Markets announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 26th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cboe Global Markets Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 30th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 29th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Cboe Global Markets’s payout ratio is 98.97%.

Insider Activity at Cboe Global Markets

In related news, COO Christopher A. Isaacson sold 3,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.08, for a total transaction of $573,958.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 54,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,139,618.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CBOE. Argus downgraded shares of Cboe Global Markets from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Cboe Global Markets from $161.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 7th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Cboe Global Markets from $178.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Cboe Global Markets from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 29th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Cboe Global Markets from $168.00 to $173.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $161.27.

Cboe Global Markets Company Profile

Cboe Global Markets, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an options exchange worldwide. It operates through six segments: Options, North American Equities, Europe and Asia Pacific, Futures, Global FX, and Digital. The Options segment trades in listed market indices. The North American Equities segment trades in listed U.S.