Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC Purchases 45 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 45 shares during the quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake 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. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 120.3% in 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 during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.07.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $250.11 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $235.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $225.08. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $253.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.30, a PEG ratio of 5.54 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last released 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 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. Equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

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.