CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Purchased by Private Trust Co. NA

Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the quarter. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in CME Group were worth $823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 88.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 6,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,455,000 after acquiring an additional 3,241 shares during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 33.6% in the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Financial Planning Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Keystone Financial Planning Inc. now owns 35,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,775,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 26,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,059,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CME. Barclays raised their target price on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.13.

CME Group Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $253.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.45 billion, a PE ratio of 26.24, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $254.40. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $238.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $229.07.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.71%.

CME Group declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.