CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Bought by New York Life Investment Management LLC

New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $12,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meyer Handelman Co. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in CME Group by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its stake in CME Group by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,730,000 after purchasing an additional 52,862 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,432,000 after purchasing an additional 303,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,823,964,000 after purchasing an additional 142,692 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on CME. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced 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. Barclays lifted their price target on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.13.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:CME opened at $249.85 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $253.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $238.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $228.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its 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%. Research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.71%.

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

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.