M&T Bank Corp Has $34.79 Million Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 55.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 149,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 53,717 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in CME Group were worth $34,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in CME Group by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 29,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,906,000 after buying an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. Souders Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of CME Group by 35.8% in the fourth quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 8,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 2,160 shares during the last quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $291,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of CME Group by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 236,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its position in shares of CME Group by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 48,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,238,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 1.9 %

CME opened at $251.98 on Wednesday. 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 50 day moving average price is $239.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $229.89. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $258.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.80 billion, a PE ratio of 26.06, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.71%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’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 directly owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 17,076 shares of company stock worth $4,271,496. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.