CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Bought by Modern Wealth Management LLC

Modern Wealth Management LLC grew its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 570.6% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Down 0.3 %

CME stock opened at $262.06 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $267.91. 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’s fifty day moving average is $247.77 and its 200 day moving average is $234.95. The firm has a market cap of $94.44 billion, a PE ratio of 27.10, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 51.71%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup lowered 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.93.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.