Cumberland Partners Ltd Purchases New Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Cumberland Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 8,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,858,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 51,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,309,000 after buying an additional 4,354 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its holdings in CME Group by 20.0% in the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 1,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 14.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 197,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,594,000 after acquiring an additional 24,643 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 141.3% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,019,000 after acquiring an additional 5,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leo Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $260,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents 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 the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME opened at $250.75 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $236.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $226.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $90.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a PEG ratio of 6.75 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.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.