Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC Increases Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 177 shares during the quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its position 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 worth $96,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its stake 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 CME Group by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 4,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $943,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Up 0.1 %

CME opened at $232.53 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $83.79 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $233.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.60. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $249.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on CME. Redburn Atlantic cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.27.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at $2,403,279.44. The trade was a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,652,298. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Company 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.