Banque Pictet & Cie SA Acquires 1,998 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA lifted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 67,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,998 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in CME Group were worth $15,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $664,000 after buying an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 207,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,505,000 after acquiring an additional 2,382 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 2,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $507,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $211,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $250.11 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $235.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.08. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $253.53. The stock has a market cap of $90.13 billion, a PE ratio of 26.30, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. As a group, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $234.07.

About CME Group

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.