Peterson Wealth Services Raises Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Peterson Wealth Services grew its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the quarter. Peterson Wealth Services’ holdings in CME Group were worth $2,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in shares of CME Group by 267.1% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 2,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $621,000 after buying an additional 2,049 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its position in shares of CME Group by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 10,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,320,000 after buying an additional 957 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA increased its holdings in CME Group by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 2,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.27.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME opened at $241.81 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $235.48 and its 200-day moving average is $224.32. The stock has a market cap of $87.14 billion, a PE ratio of 25.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. 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 twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $249.02.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a boost 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 52.58%.

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.