Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $92.57 Million Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 419,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,508 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of CME Group worth $92,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CME. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 62.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 66.1% in the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CME. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Redburn Atlantic cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,298. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $238.53 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $249.02. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $230.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $214.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $85.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $5.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.