Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL Has $1.77 Million Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL increased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Miramar Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 59,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,735,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $537,000. United Community Bank purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $661,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $997,872.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,076 shares of company stock valued at $4,271,496. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.2 %

CME opened at $254.57 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $240.07 and a 200 day moving average of $230.70. The company has a market cap of $91.74 billion, a PE ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $258.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding 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 generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on CME shares. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $235.50.

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.