CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Acquired by Motley Fool Asset Management LLC

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,843 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,794,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 23.9% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,709,000 after buying an additional 2,370 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $335,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario grew its position in CME Group by 48.6% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 11,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,631,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 33.3% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,855 shares during the period. Finally, Prevatt Capital Ltd raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 30.4% during the third quarter. Prevatt Capital Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,098,000 after purchasing an additional 35,000 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. Piper Sandler raised 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. Oppenheimer raised their target price on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $241.53.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $262.54 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $251.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $236.71. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $267.91. The firm has a market cap of $94.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.71%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, 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 directly owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About CME Group

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.