CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Purchased by Choate Investment Advisors

Choate Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in CME Group were worth $329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 570.6% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 188.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $263.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $94.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $243.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $232.93. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $264.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on CME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays upped their target price on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.93.

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.