CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Bought by HighPoint Advisor Group LLC

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 876 shares during the period. CME Group comprises approximately 1.0% of HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $18,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CME. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.93.

CME Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $262.22 on Monday. 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 cap of $94.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $267.91. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $249.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $235.87.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. 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 dividend yield of 1.91%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 51.71%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value 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 represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.