US Bancorp DE Lowers Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

US Bancorp DE trimmed its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 375,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 228 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in CME Group were worth $87,165,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 188.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 120.3% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.13.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $253.77 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $254.40. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $238.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57.

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

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company 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 represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.71%.

CME Group 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.