Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 4,460 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 75.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,460 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its stake in CME Group by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 7,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,719,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 6,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,438,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Monte Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC now owns 21,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,015,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its stake in CME Group by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,730,000 after buying an additional 52,862 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.3 %

CME opened at $236.52 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $249.02. The company has a market cap of $85.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.87, a PEG ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $234.58 and its 200-day moving average is $222.18.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $5.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.37%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on CME. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.