Summit Financial LLC Purchases 950 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Summit Financial LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 52.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $661,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. St. James Investment Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $7,878,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in CME Group by 202.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 564,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $130,983,000 after acquiring an additional 377,414 shares during the last quarter. Skba Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Skba Capital Management LLC now owns 73,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,113,000 after acquiring an additional 1,280 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 26,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,198,000 after purchasing an additional 4,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IPG Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,530,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CME shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays upped their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $241.53.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $262.54 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $251.50 and its 200 day moving average is $236.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market cap of $94.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $267.91.

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

CME Group announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

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.