Syntax Research Inc. Sells 9,509 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Syntax Research Inc. lessened its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 82.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,509 shares during the quarter. Syntax Research Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 188.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $263.35 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $246.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $234.35. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $267.91. The firm has a market cap of $94.90 billion, a PE ratio of 27.23, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James raised CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.93.

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.