Motco Sells 603 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Motco cut its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 21,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 603 shares during the quarter. Motco’s holdings in CME Group were worth $4,945,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after buying an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 26.6% during the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $220,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 23.2% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 11,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,623,000 after buying an additional 2,238 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 88.4% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 6,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,455,000 after acquiring an additional 3,241 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. 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. Barclays raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value 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. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $249.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $90.04 billion, a PE ratio of 25.84, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company’s 50 day moving average is $238.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $228.59. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $253.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders 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 is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership 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.