Portside Wealth Group LLC Sells 48 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Portside Wealth Group LLC reduced its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 48 shares during the quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 188.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 120.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 52.4% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $232.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $83.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.47, a PEG ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $249.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $233.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.77.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $5.80 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CME. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total value of $1,019,880.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. This trade represents a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 in the last ninety days. 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.