Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 14.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 556 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in CME Group by 24.9% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after buying an additional 1,295 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 3.9% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,460,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in CME Group by 6.9% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,195,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the period. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Finally, CWC Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $628,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped 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 report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.13.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $248.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $237.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $227.53. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $253.53. The firm has a market cap of $89.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.57%.

CME Group announced that its board has initiated a share buyback 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 reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group 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.