CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Short Interest Down 8.7% in January

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,320,000 shares, a drop of 8.7% from the December 31st total of 4,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,950,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 101,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,474,000 after acquiring an additional 922 shares during the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 13,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,197,000 after buying an additional 887 shares during the last quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 4,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,109,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $357,000. Finally, Peoples Bank OH acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $203,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased 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 note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.27.

CME Group Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of CME stock traded up $4.13 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $240.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,536,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,961,454. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $234.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $222.78. The stock has a market cap of $86.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.30, a PEG ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $249.02.

CME Group announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $5.80 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.37%.

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.