Apollon Wealth Management LLC Purchases 1,226 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,921,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,823,964,000 after acquiring an additional 142,692 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $554,707,000 after acquiring an additional 380,071 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake 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. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,230,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $492,072,000 after buying an additional 237,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,981,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $437,320,000 after buying an additional 26,642 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. 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 research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.27.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $244.83 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $235.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $224.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick 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.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.