CCLA Investment Management Purchases 118,872 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

CCLA Investment Management grew its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 658,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 118,872 shares during the period. CME Group makes up 2.4% of CCLA Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. CCLA Investment Management owned about 0.18% of CME Group worth $152,832,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CME. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in CME Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its holdings in CME Group by 3.7% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in CME Group by 10.2% during the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in CME Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 4,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $943,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,298. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen began coverage on CME Group in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.27.

CME Group Trading Up 1.0 %

CME stock opened at $231.73 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $249.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business’s 50 day moving average is $232.81 and its 200-day moving average is $219.36. The firm has a market cap of $83.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $5.80 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

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.