CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stake Raised by Mizuho Securities USA LLC

Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 46.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,804 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $7,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in CME Group by 9.4% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 22,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,037,000 after acquiring an additional 7,214 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 27.1% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 46,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,262,000 after acquiring an additional 9,905 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 9.5% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 91,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,667,000 after acquiring an additional 7,960 shares during the period. Finally, Leelyn Smith LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 4.5% during the third quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 11,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,484,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Piper Sandler lifted 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. Raymond James raised CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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 cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the business’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 transaction of $997,872.48. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:CME opened at $263.35 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $246.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $234.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $267.91.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 paid 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 dividend yield of 1.90%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

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

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.