Hobbs Group Advisors LLC Purchases 51 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Hobbs Group Advisors LLC raised its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 51 shares during the quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in shares of CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James upgraded shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $262.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $94.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $249.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $235.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $267.91.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.