Andra AP fonden Acquires 2,100 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Andra AP fonden boosted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 12.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in CME Group were worth $4,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 570.6% in 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 holdings in CME Group by 188.4% in 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 purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 120.3% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,076 shares of company stock worth $4,271,496 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays boosted their target price on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $235.50.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $254.57 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $240.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.70. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $258.78. The company has a market capitalization of $91.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.33, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01.

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

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

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.