IPG Investment Advisors LLC Purchases New Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

IPG Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 6,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,530,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 188.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $262.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $94.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $249.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $235.75. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $267.91.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were 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 owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on CME. Oppenheimer increased their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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 stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.93.

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.