Banque Pictet & Cie SA Raises Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA raised its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,998 shares during the quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in CME Group were worth $15,588,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in CME Group by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $664,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in CME Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 207,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,505,000 after buying an additional 2,382 shares during the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 2,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $211,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $250.11 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $235.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $225.08. The stock has a market cap of $90.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $253.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 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%. On average, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes 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 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 2.00%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $234.07.

CME Group Company 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.