C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors Takes $232,000 Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CME. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 570.6% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in CME Group by 188.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in CME Group by 120.3% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $248.32 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $253.53. 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 fifty day moving average price is $236.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $227.00. The firm has a market cap of $89.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 0.57.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.45 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This is a boost 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 yield of 2.01%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 47.57%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on CME. Barclays lifted 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.