Harrell Investment Partners LLC Sells 135 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Harrell Investment Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 20,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises about 1.4% of Harrell Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Harrell Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $4,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. 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. grew its position 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 buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 120.3% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 62.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock opened at $234.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $84.57 billion, a PE ratio of 24.68, a P/E/G ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $234.02 and a 200-day moving average of $221.05. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $249.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $5.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,652,298. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.27.

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.