Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,971 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 353 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,723,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on CME. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays upped their price objective 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. Oppenheimer lifted their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.13.

CME Group Stock Up 1.6 %

CME opened at $253.77 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $254.40. The company has a market cap of $91.45 billion, a PE ratio of 26.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $238.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.07.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. 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 initiated a share 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 buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. 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. CME Group’s payout ratio is 51.71%.

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.