Capital Wealth Planning LLC Buys 996,498 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 69.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 996,498 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for approximately 5.2% of Capital Wealth Planning LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Capital Wealth Planning LLC owned approximately 0.68% of CME Group worth $565,671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.13.

CME Group Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $253.77 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 cap of $91.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.24, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $254.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $238.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $229.07.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. As a group, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

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

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were 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 owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.