U S Global Investors Inc. Invests $107,000 in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

U S Global Investors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $107,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in CME Group by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $823,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Fielder Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 162.4% in the 4th quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 2,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,528 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in CME Group by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Sentinel Trust Co. LBA acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $368,000. Finally, Verus Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,861,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $249.85 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market cap of $90.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.84, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $253.53. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $238.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $228.59.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. Sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.13.

CME Group 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.