MCF Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 25.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $85,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in CME Group by 11.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,038,676,000 after purchasing an additional 537,758 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 21,465.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 485,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,072,070,000 after purchasing an additional 483,618 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP lifted its position in CME Group by 698.0% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,384,000 after purchasing an additional 476,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,707,000 after buying an additional 380,071 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays increased their price target on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.27.

CME Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $232.53 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $233.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $249.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The business’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders 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 was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was 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 $1,652,298. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.