CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Position Trimmed by Wealthspire Advisors LLC

Wealthspire Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 153,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,264 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $35,610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Townsend & Associates Inc boosted its stake in CME Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 77,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,571 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its stake in CME Group by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 101,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,474,000 after purchasing an additional 922 shares during the period. Redmond Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 13,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,197,000 after purchasing an additional 887 shares during the period. Greystone Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 4,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $357,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Up 0.2 %

CME Group stock opened at $248.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $89.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.74, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $237.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $227.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $253.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.57%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program 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 buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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.