Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership Sells 1,503 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership reduced its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 57.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,097 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,503 shares during the period. CME Group comprises 0.2% of Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in CME Group were worth $255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 570.6% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 120.3% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Erste Group Bank raised CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of CME Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $301.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $247.47.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $261.54 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $94.25 billion, a PE ratio of 27.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $273.42. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $255.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $239.24.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.25 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.