Cohen Investment Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Cohen Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in 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. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 120.3% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 52.4% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Up 1.9 %

CME Group stock opened at $232.31 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02. The business’s fifty day moving average is $232.95 and its 200 day moving average is $219.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.72 billion, a PE ratio of 24.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.25 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.2 EPS for the current year.

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $5.80 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. The trade was a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America increased their price objective on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.27.

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.