268,473 Shares in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Purchased by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 268,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $62,347,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 24.9% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,432,000 after buying an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 26.6% in the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth approximately $220,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 23.2% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 11,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,623,000 after buying an additional 2,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 88.4% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 6,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,455,000 after buying an additional 3,241 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.13.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $249.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.04 billion, a PE ratio of 25.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business’s fifty day moving average is $238.12 and its 200 day moving average is $228.59. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $253.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback 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 purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. 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 payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

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.