CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Holdings Increased by Rothschild Investment LLC

Rothschild Investment LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in CME Group by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,730,000 after buying an additional 52,862 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,432,000 after buying an additional 303,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,823,964,000 after buying an additional 142,692 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CME. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays raised their price target on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.13.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 1.2 %

CME stock opened at $250.82 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $253.53. The company has a market capitalization of $90.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $237.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $228.30. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. 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 payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

CME Group declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.