Whitener Capital Management Inc. Purchases New Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Whitener Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Redburn Atlantic lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Four 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,298. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 0.2 %

CME Group stock opened at $232.71 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02. The stock has a market cap of $83.86 billion, a PE ratio of 24.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $233.15 and a 200 day moving average of $219.51.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.2 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $5.80 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

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

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.