Poinciana Advisors Group LLC Makes New $410,000 Investment in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Poinciana Advisors Group LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $410,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 570.6% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 188.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of 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 shares of 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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. Insiders have sold 17,076 shares of company stock valued at $4,271,496 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Trading Down 0.4 %

CME opened at $258.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.75, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $263.65. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $242.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $232.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

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

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.