C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors Invests $232,000 in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network boosted its stake in CME Group by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 2,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in CME Group by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $245.48 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $253.53. 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 company has a market capitalization of $88.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50-day moving average of $235.82 and a 200-day moving average of $225.25.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler increased their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $234.13.

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.