Blueprint Investment Partners LLC Invests $309,000 in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Blueprint Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 1,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $309,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 570.6% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on CME. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.93.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $263.35 on Monday. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $267.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.90 billion, a PE ratio of 27.23, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50-day moving average is $246.50 and its 200-day moving average is $234.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

CME Group declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.