Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC Takes $204,000 Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC bought a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 69.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,671,000 after purchasing an additional 996,498 shares in the last quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $223,967,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP grew its holdings in CME Group by 698.0% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,384,000 after buying an additional 476,019 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.93.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $263.35 on Friday. 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 has a market capitalization of $94.90 billion, a PE ratio of 27.23, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $267.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $246.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $234.07.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its 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%. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business 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 $1.25 dividend. This is a boost 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 1.90%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

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.