Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Grows Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,881,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CME. Andra AP fonden boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 18,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,343,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 2,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares in the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $2,295,000. Finally, EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC grew its position in CME Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC now owns 38,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,913,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $235.50.

CME Group Trading Up 0.2 %

CME Group stock opened at $254.57 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $258.78. The company has a market cap of $91.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.33, a P/E/G 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. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $240.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. Analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors 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. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.71%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,076 shares of company stock valued at $4,271,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Company 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.