CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Bought by DAVENPORT & Co LLC

DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 193.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,708 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,696 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 18,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,363,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in CME Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,284,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its stake in CME Group by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 3,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $753,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA lifted its stake in CME Group by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 3,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $731,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 27,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,197,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 1.7 %

CME opened at $240.65 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $234.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $222.78. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $249.02. 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 firm has a market cap of $86.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 0.57.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $5.80 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program 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 repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Four investment 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.27.

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.