Peoples Bank KS Has $981,000 Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Peoples Bank KS trimmed its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Peoples Bank KS’s holdings in CME Group were worth $981,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 30,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,000,000 after buying an additional 1,557 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,307,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,570,000 after acquiring an additional 17,508 shares during the period. Finally, Syntax Research Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,540,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME opened at $227.01 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $249.02. The business has a 50 day moving average of $232.32 and a 200-day moving average of $218.15. The stock has a market cap of $81.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.87, a PEG ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.25 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $5.80 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on CME. Barclays lifted their price target on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,298. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.