Triad Wealth Partners LLC Invests $291,000 in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $291,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CME. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in 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 acquiring 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 acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought 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 acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,076 shares of company stock valued at $4,271,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler increased 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. increased their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.13.

CME Group Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:CME opened at $254.48 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $258.78. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $91.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.32, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $239.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.06.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted 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%. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan 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 reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often 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 paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.71%.

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.