999 Shares in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Bought by C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors

C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CME. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 70.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 21,465.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 485,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,072,070,000 after acquiring an additional 483,618 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP grew its holdings in CME Group by 698.0% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,384,000 after acquiring an additional 476,019 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 17.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,707,000 after acquiring an additional 380,071 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. acquired a new position in CME Group during the third quarter worth about $79,692,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 1.0 %

CME stock opened at $248.32 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $89.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.68, a PEG ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $253.53. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $236.87 and a 200-day moving average of $227.00.

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 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.45 EPS for the current 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 issued a $1.25 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 47.57%.

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 shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their target price on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.