PineStone Asset Management Inc. Purchases 159,718 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,665,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 159,718 shares during the period. CME Group comprises 3.6% of PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. PineStone Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.46% of CME Group worth $386,826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 0.6% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network boosted its stake in CME Group by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 2,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

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

CME Group Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $245.48 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $235.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $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 current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market cap of $88.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. 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%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

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

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.