Atomi Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 34.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 947 shares during the quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $865,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. purchased a new stake in CME Group during the second quarter valued at about $313,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $200,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,651,000. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in CME Group by 59.9% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 68,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,558,000 after acquiring an additional 25,845 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of CME opened at $232.53 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $249.02. 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 50 day simple moving average of $233.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $220.60. The firm has a market cap of $83.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,298. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction of $1,019,880.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. This represents a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen started coverage on CME Group in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target 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. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.27.

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.