Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Has $10.47 Million Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 608 shares during the period. CME Group makes up 0.8% of Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $10,473,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Marathon Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Marathon Asset Management Ltd now owns 179,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,683,000 after purchasing an additional 26,913 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 20,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,788,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. now owns 33,956 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,886,000 after acquiring an additional 3,669 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $253.77 on Monday. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $254.40. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $238.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $229.22. The stock has a market cap of $91.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.24, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. On average, equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s payout ratio is 51.71%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.13.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently 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.