Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Sells 3,884 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lowered its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 193,663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,884 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned 0.05% of CME Group worth $44,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 188.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $245.48 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $253.53. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $235.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $225.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.81, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 a positive change 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.71%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer increased their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Four 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 MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $234.13.

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.