Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 17.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,051,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $219,000. Keystone Financial Planning Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Planning Inc. now owns 36,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,363,000 after buying an additional 777 shares in the last quarter. Fulcrum Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Fulcrum Capital LLC now owns 44,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,385,000 after buying an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $642,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 34,563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,026,000 after buying an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $231.73 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $83.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $249.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $232.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.36.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $5.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CME. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total value of $1,019,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group 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.