CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stake Lessened by Cannell & Spears LLC

Cannell & Spears LLC trimmed its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,834 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 546 shares during the quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 8.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $265.29 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $250.30 and its 200-day moving average is $236.21. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $267.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.43, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. 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 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 51.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on CME shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.93.

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.