CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stake Boosted by Fiera Capital Corp

Fiera Capital Corp increased its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,305,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the period. CME Group comprises about 2.4% of Fiera Capital Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Fiera Capital Corp owned 0.92% of CME Group worth $767,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake 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 worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 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 valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CME. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.27.

CME Group Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $248.96 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $253.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $235.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $224.91.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. Equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.