Csenge Advisory Group Has $830,000 Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Csenge Advisory Group lowered its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 61 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group’s holdings in CME Group were worth $830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CME. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,157,000 after buying an additional 1,003,119 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 21,465.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 485,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,072,070,000 after buying an additional 483,618 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 698.0% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,384,000 after buying an additional 476,019 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $554,707,000 after buying an additional 380,071 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $79,692,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CME. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler raised 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. Citigroup downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $234.13.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $245.48 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $235.95 and its 200-day moving average is $226.00. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $253.53. 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 cap of $88.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. Equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

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

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.