CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Purchased by Donaldson Capital Management LLC

Donaldson Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 223,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,721 shares during the period. CME Group makes up approximately 2.0% of Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Donaldson Capital Management LLC owned about 0.06% of CME Group worth $51,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in CME Group by 8.4% in the 4th 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 during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 2,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James upgraded shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.93.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,076 shares of company stock valued at $4,271,496 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 3.0 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $262.28 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $94.51 billion, a PE ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $262.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $240.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $231.22.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company 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 $1.25 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.