Center for Financial Planning Inc. Reduces Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Center for Financial Planning Inc. lowered its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 125 shares during the period. Center for Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CME. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of CME Group by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 51,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,309,000 after purchasing an additional 4,354 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of CME Group by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 71,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,677,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $469,000. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its position in shares of CME Group by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 51,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,413,000 after buying an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in shares of CME Group by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 51,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,463,000 after buying an additional 948 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % 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. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $245.48 on Friday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $235.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $225.25. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $253.53. The company has a market capitalization of $88.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.81, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan 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 reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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 issued a $1.25 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CME. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of 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 boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler boosted their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Four research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $234.13.

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.