Farther Finance Advisors LLC Has $1.15 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC cut its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 217 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its holdings in CME Group by 106.1% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 3,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 4.2% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $663,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in CME Group by 5.0% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,399 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $750,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in CME Group by 35.3% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 111,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,601,000 after purchasing an additional 29,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 3.7% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CME shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler upped their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.93.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $258.68 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $263.65. 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 $93.22 billion, a PE ratio of 26.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $242.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $232.32.

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 net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. Research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. 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 dividend payout ratio is 51.71%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,076 shares of company stock valued at $4,271,496 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.