1,534 Shares in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Purchased by VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC

VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,534 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $357,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in CME Group by 570.6% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 188.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 120.3% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $248.88 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $237.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $227.36. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $253.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $89.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.83 and a beta of 0.57.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.13.

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.