CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Bought by Wedmont Private Capital

Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 288 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in CME Group were worth $642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in CME Group by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 34,563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,026,000 after buying an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 8,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,070,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 23,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,454,000 after acquiring an additional 3,571 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 78,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,145,000 after acquiring an additional 4,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $668,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $231.73 on Wednesday. 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 one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $232.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.36. The company has a market capitalization of $83.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a share 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 buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $5.80 per share. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.37%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,298. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,131,291.92. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. TD Cowen began coverage on CME Group in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.27.

CME Group Company 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.