Synovus Financial Corp Sells 480 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Synovus Financial Corp trimmed its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 480 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 120.3% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $262.87 on Wednesday. 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 twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $273.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $256.03 and a 200 day moving average of $239.72. The stock has a market cap of $94.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. Raymond James raised CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $247.47.

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.