Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV Sells 609 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV decreased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 609 shares during the period. CME Group makes up 1.7% of Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 108.7% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,949,000 after acquiring an additional 6,453 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,730,000 after buying an additional 52,862 shares during the period. Finally, Unified Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $503,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.4 %

CME Group stock opened at $258.68 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $242.80 and a 200-day moving average of $232.58. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $263.65. 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 company has a market cap of $93.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.75, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. On average, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.93.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,076 shares of company stock worth $4,271,496 in the last three months. 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.