Phoenix Wealth Advisors Has $2.70 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Phoenix Wealth Advisors cut its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 416 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up about 1.2% of Phoenix Wealth Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Phoenix Wealth Advisors’ holdings in CME Group were worth $2,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CME. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the second quarter worth $313,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 8.5% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the second quarter worth $200,000. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 4.5% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 81,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,019,000 after buying an additional 3,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the second quarter worth $590,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Four equities research 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 MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.27.

CME Group Stock Down 0.2 %

CME opened at $232.25 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $233.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $249.02. The firm has a market cap of $83.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.42, a PEG ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. This represents a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,298. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.